Luxury brand Chanel has reported excellent sales growth in the 2017. The group’s latest results revealed that revenue last year was $9.62 billion, up 11.5% compared with 2016.

That revenue allowed the group to post net profit of $1.79 billion, up 18.6% from a the previous year.

“Our financial strength gives us the means to remain independent and to focus on the long term,” said Philippe Blondiaux, Chanel’s chief financial officer, who also pointed out that Chanel was sitting on a large cash pile – $2.2 billion – and relatively little debt.

“It seems that all of a sudden the Chanel shareholders are more interested in the market,” said Exane BNP Paribas analyst Luca Solca. “I presume this could be a preamble for either a future IPO or M&A.”