Tiffany Holiday Sales ‘Disappointing Overall’
January 12, 15
(IDEX Online News) – Net sales dropped 1 percent worldwide at Tiffany & Co. to $1.02 billion. On a constant-exchange-rate basis which excludes the effect of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales into US dollars, worldwide net sales increased 3 percent.
In the Americas, total sales on a constant-exchange-rate basis the same as holiday 2013, and comparable store sales declined 1 percent. In US dollars, total sales declined 1 percent to $544 million.
Total sales in the Asia-Pacific region on a constant-exchange-rate basis rose 10 percent and comparable store sales increased 6 percent, led by noteworthy growth in China and Singapore. In US dollars, total sales increased 7 percent to $210 million.
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In Japan, total sales on a constant-exchange-rate basis declined 3 percent and comparable store sales declined 8 percent, which management attributes to weak economic conditions affecting consumer spending. In US dollars, total sales declined 16 percent to $113 million.
Total sales in Europe on a constant-exchange-rate basis increased 9 percent due to growth in major continental European markets and comparable store sales rose 4 percent. In US dollars, total sales increased 1 percent to $133 million.
Other sales rose 14 percent to $24 million, reflecting sales in Tiffany's new store in Moscow, which opened earlier in the year partly offset by a 6 percent decline in comparable store sales. Wholesale sales of diamonds also increased.
"Clearly, sales for the holiday period were disappointing overall, with significant variability in performance by region and by product category,” said Tiffany chairman and CEO Michael J. Kowalski.
“Regarding product categories, our very strong and concentrated marketing focus on Tiffany "T" generated strong sales growth in fashion gold jewelry. However, that success did not translate into broader sales momentum as we had anticipated in other jewelry categories."
“Tiffany has meaningful global opportunities to pursue over the long-term. For the coming year, however, we are planning cautiously as we anticipate significant headwinds from the stronger US dollar against all of our key currencies that, as we experienced in the holiday period, negatively affects both the translation of results and sales to tourists in the US,” said Tiffany president Frederic Cumenal.
“While we are still in our planning process, we believe these factors will likely result in our planning low-to-mid single-digit sales and earnings growth in 2015.”