Richemont appoints insider Jérôme Lambert as watchmaking head

Luxury goods group Richemont on Friday appointed Jérôme Lambert, currently head of operations, to the newly created role of chief operating officer responsible for the Swiss group's watch and fashion brands.

Richemont also reported a solid increase in sales and an 80 percent jump in net profit for the six months to Sept. 30, but cautioned it would not be able to reiterate this "exceptional level of growth" for the full year.

Richemont's watchmaking division was thoroughly shaken in July when its boss Georges Kern, appointed just months earlier to put brands like Piaget and Vacheron Constantin back on track after a severe downturn, threw in the towel to join competitor Breitling.