Celebrations for Citizen as global sales and profit soar

Citizen Watch Company has seen worldwide turnover and profit hit new heights in its latest financial results.

Its figures for FY26 — ending March 31 2026 — showed turnover as a group growing to ¥346,808 million, which is roughly $2.2 billion or £1.6 billion. This is an increase of 9.4% on the previous period.

Of this, its watch category — it also has categories for machine tools, devices and components, and electric & other products — accounted for ¥197,061 million, which is about $1.24 billion or £928 million, an increase of 10% year-on-year.

These results will be seen as a huge fillip for both Citizen and Japanese watchmaking in general, which has thrived in recent years. Citizen Watch Co.’s share price has quadrupled since Covid, while during the same period the likes of Swiss giants Swatch Group — flat — and Richemont — doubled — haven’t enjoyed anywhere near the same growth.

Operating profit within the watch division is also up, reaching ¥25,072 million, which is roughly $168 million or £127 million — an enormous 38% increase on FY25.

Interestingly, watches continue to become more and more important for Citizen Watch Company. As recently as 2020 watch sales accounted for just 46% of total sales, while in FY26 this figure was 57%.

The Citizen brand specifically is enjoying a buoyant year, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its pioneering Eco-Drive technology.

Speaking with Watch Insider earlier this year, president of Citizen Watch America, Jeffrey Cohen, made it clear that the company and its brands — Citizen, Bulova, Frederique Constant, Accutron, and Alpina — were not going to be resting on their laurels.

“We have an audience of watch enthusiasts that we’ve cultivated over the years, and we want to make sure we continue to deliver everything we promised and more,” Cohen said. “How do we upgrade EcoDrive? How do we take Super Titanium to the next level? How do we make the thinnest light-powered watch in the world? How do we make Precisionist more accurate than before? With Frederique Constant, how do we continue to make in-house movements at affordable luxury prices that no-one can compete with? Each of the brands has a very special runway, and we stay consistent. We don’t chase, we lead.”

“We’re seeing that right now in retail. We’re seeing sell-through that is probably double what most brands are getting. The pie hasn’t grown but we’re getting a much bigger piece of the pie and we’re driving market share growth like there’s no tomorrow.”