The Swatch Group, the Swiss maker of watches and luxury jewelry saw its first half profits plunge due to the luxury market crisis in China and warned Monday the key market was likely to remain difficult throughout the rest of the year.
Profits tumbled 70.5% to 147 million Swiss francs ($164 million) on a 14% drop in sales to 3.4 billion francs.
Swatch, the maker of Omega, Tissot and Blancpain watches, attributed the decline primarily due to a drop in demand for luxury goods in China.
Operating results declined to 204 million francs from 686 million francs a year…