Tiffany Posts 24% Rise in Q4 Net Profit
February 25, 04
Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co today (Wednesday) reported quarterly profit rose 24 percent, beating expectations, on strong Christmas holiday sales.
Tiffany said it recorded a profit of $110.4 million in the fourth quarter compared with $89.3 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share rose to 74 cents per share from 60 cents last year.
Tiffany's most recent forecast was for earnings of 68 - 71 cents per diluted share with analysts expecting earnings per share of 70 cents.
Net sales in the fourth quarter rose 18 percent to $731.5 million.
In the full year ended January 31, 2004, net sales rose to $2.0 billion versus $1.71 billion. Full year profit increased 13 percent to $215.5 million. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, net sales increased 14 percent and worldwide comparable store sales rose 8 percent.
The company said it expects 2004 earnings to increase 12-15 percent. It also forecast U.S. same-store sales - sales at stores open at least a year - would rise in the high single-digit range this year, while the rise in same-store sales in Japan would be in the low single digits.