Swatch CEO ready to accept lower profit after tough first half

By Marleen Kaesebier

(Reuters) -Swatch Chief Executive Nick Hayek is counting on improvements in China in the second half of 2025, he said on Thursday, but would not cut jobs in the pursuit of profits.

"It will not be a revolution, it will not be massive, but it's a trend in the right direction," Hayek told Reuters, referring to an improvement in Chinese consumer demand.

Swatch, whose brands include Omega and Tissot, has been struggling with weak demand in China - which makes up 24% of group sales - for over a year, with sales once more sliding in the first half of 2025.

The company would deal with the downturn, and had no plans to cut jobs in Switzerland, Hayek said.

Swatch's share price has fallen 17% this year, but Hayek said he was taking a long-term approach.

"We can cope with it. We can also accept to have less profits," Hayek said. "But we stick with our people."

"We train them. We have our factories. We have our know-how. If there is a slowdown and the capacities cannot be filled, we start to develop new products."

Hayek, the son of Swatch Group's founder, also said that while "it would be nice," he has no plans to delist the company.

In May the company had come under pressure when American investor Steven Wood, founder of U.S. firm GreenWood Investors, sought a spot on the board. The motion was rejected at the annual general meeting.

"I saw him once because he presented himself as a potential investor," Hayek said, adding that without knowledge of the Swiss watch industry, the AGM had good reasons to say no.

(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier, editing by John Revill)

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