STORY: Shares in Cartier-owner Richemont soared over a fifth on Friday (November 11).

The luxury goods group beat expectations with sales and operating profit from continuing operations rising by a quarter during the six months to the end of September.

Jewelry sales rose by just under a quarter during the period.

Customers were drawn to collections like Cartier's Clash and Trinity rings and necklaces.

Richemont owns numerous other brands including jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels and luxury watchmaker Jaeger Le Coultre.

The Swiss company was helped by China's easing of some health crisis restrictions.

Richemont reported a net loss for shareholders of around $777 million, after it a took a $2.8 billion non-cash charge for exiting an online retailer.

But continuing operations saw profit rise 40% to almost $2.2 billion.

Group sales rose just under a quarter to almost $10 billion.

That was driven by improvement in the Asia Pacific region, and double-digit sales growth elsewhere.

Richemont said it was still cautious about the future, and that next year was hard to predict.

It blamed a tough economic environment in Europe and North America.