France’s LVMH has delivered forecast-beating first-quarter sales driven by US and Chinese consumers putting the pandemic behind them and flocking to its biggest brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior.

If trends seen in the first quarter continue, the world’s biggest luxury group, which is controlled by billionaire Bernard Arnault, is on track for its annual revenue to exceed pre-pandemic levels this year, according to analyst forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters. 

The group has also been boosted by the addition in January of US jewellery Tiffany to its roughly 70 brands. It has dispatched top executives to New York to integrate the $15.8bn acquisition and develop a strategy to rejuvenate a brand best known for its robin’s egg blue gift boxes.