Swatch Group has spotted an end to the downturn in the Swiss watch industry after sales fell more than 10 per cent last year and net profit almost halved.

The company, whose brands include Omega and Blancpain as well as mass-market Swatch products, said yesterday that the final two months of 2016 and the start of 2017 had seen “very good growth” in watches and jewellery revenues, especially in mainland China. Swatch expected “healthy growth” in sales in local currencies in 2017, it added.

Swatch reported net profit down 47 per cent to SFr593m last year, while sales fell 11 per cent to SFr7.55bn. The “poor” figures reflected “what was happening in the industry last year”, said Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux. In 2016, Swiss watchmakers had their worst year since the global financial crisis, with exports falling 10 per cent, largely as a result of weakness in Hong Kong and the US, the industry’s two biggest markets.