By Mimosa Spencer and Tassilo Hummel

PARIS (Reuters) -French luxury group Hermes reported fourth-quarter results well above analyst expectations on Friday, showing robust appetite from wealthy consumers for its most expensive items including Birkin bags, which cost upwards of $10,000.

Posting quarterly sales up by around 18%, Hermes continues to outshine rivals like LVMH and Kering-owned Gucci as the industry suffers its slowest sales in years. Global luxury sales fell around 2% last year, hurt by a property crisis crimping spending in China and inflation-weary shoppers elsewhere.

"We are celebrating an excellent year, in a tougher environment," Axel Dumas, executive chairman, told journalists on a call.

Shares in the company were up 4.5% in early Paris trade, lifting European peers.

"Hermes joins the elite club of those smashing Q4 forecasts," Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said. On Thursday, Italian outerwear maker Moncler reported consensus-beating sales growth in the fourth quarter, boosted by double-digit growth in mainland China. 

Hermes said its sales for the fourth quarter came to 3.96 billion euros ($4.14 billion), an 18% rise at constant exchange rates, accelerating in the important end of year period, with the fastest growth in the Americas and Japan.

The growth beat analyst expectations for a 10% rise, according to a Visible Alpha consensus cited by UBS.

Citi analysts said the earnings will likely lead to increased market expectations for 2025 growth, currently seen at just over 10%.

The Hermes leather goods and saddlery division, which accounts for nearly half of group revenue, grew the fastest, up 21.5%. Analysts had expected a rise of 13%.

The double-digit growth at Hermes contrasts with LVMH's 1% rise over the last three months of the year.

The Asia region excluding Japan is Hermes' biggest market and sales there grew 9% in the fourth quarter, despite the downturn in traffic in Greater China seen since the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Executive Chair Dumas added, however, that it was "too early to see an inflection" in the industry, despite some positive signs.

Hermes is known for its tight grip on production, sticking to an annual increase of around 6-7% a year, with order backlogs cushioning it from falling demand while holding up the label's exclusive aura.

Sales in the Americas region clocked 22.3% growth, matching growth in Japan. 

Asked about the impact from potential U.S. tariffs on European goods, Dumas said the company would not adjust its production.

"We are attached to keeping our production where it is," he said, citing France for leather goods, Switzerland for watches and Italy for shoes.

"We'll adapt to tariffs, and raise prices accordingly," he added.

The company is raising prices 6-7% this year to reflect higher production costs and exchange rates, Dumas said, slightly less than last year's rise.

($1 = 0.9563 euros)

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer and Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Dominique Patton, David Evans and Susan Fenton)