Profit Up for Dunhill, Seller of Luxury Items

Dunhill Holdings, the luxury consumer products company, reported a 3% rise in annual profit Tuesday, showing that perfumes, jewelry and designer clothes sell well even in a recession.

The company said pretax profits were a record $139.3 million in its fiscal year ending in March. Sales jumped 12% to $466.6 million.

Dunhill, 57% owned by Rothmans International, said it bought the businesses and trademarks of top fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld from Revillon Luxe for about $29.3 million.

Lagerfeld, who designs for Chanel and Fendi, will now work for Dunhill’s Chloe designer label.

Dunhill said the results were very satisfactory, given the severe recession in many of its markets.