Watches of Switzerland sees 15% surge in US sales on demand for high-end timepieces

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland Group reported a 15% jump in U.S. sales for the first half of the year on Thursday, boosted by strong demand for high-end timepieces in its core market.

The global luxury goods market is expected to grow 3–5% next year, driven by strong U.S. momentum and improving trends in China, Bain & Company said in November.

Watches of Switzerland, which sells Rolex, TAG Heuer and Audemars Piguet brands, counts U.S. as its key driver, accounting for almost 60% of total profitability.

While U.S. threatened to slap goods from Switzerland with 39% tariffs, a mid-November trade deal cut that to 15%. The U.S. is Switzerland's top foreign watch market, accounting for almost 17% of exports, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.

The company said it welcomes the reduced levies, but saw no significant change in consumer behaviour following the introduction of the initial tariffs.

In September, the company said that brand partners' inventory buildup ahead of tariffs shielded it from any impact in the first half of the year.

Watches of Switzerland's U.S. sales rose to 409 million pounds ($545.52 million) in the six months to October 26, from last year's 355 million pounds.

Shares of the firm rose as much as 3.8% to 494 pence, but reversed course to fall marginally by 0934 GMT.

($1 = 0.7497 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)