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Richemont Profit Drops 31%; Chief Executive to Retire (Update3)  

Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the world’s largest jewelry maker, reported a 31 percent profit drop and said Chief Executive Officer Norbert Platt will retire.

Platt, 61, will step down at the end of the year after developing diabetes, Chairman Johann Rupert told reporters on a conference call today. Rupert declined to comment on a successor for Platt, who before becoming CEO in 2004 spent 17 years as head of the company’s Montblanc watch unit.

Net income slid to 1.08 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the 12 months through March as watch profitability slipped and the company spun off a stake in British American Tobacco Plc, Richemont said. Operating profit dropped 12 percent to 982 million euros, beating the 945 million-euro average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

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