Tiffany polishes up outlook on holiday sales rise

Tiffany holiday season sales surged 16 per cent in Asia-Pacific, driven by strong performances in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Korea.

The region accounted for US$232 million of Tiffany’s $1.05 billion global sales in the two months to December 31. The figures were driven by a 7 per cent increase in same-store sales, new store openings and an increase in wholesale turnover, the US-headquartered company said in a statement.

Management attributed Asia-Pacific retail sales growth primarily to higher spending by local customers.

On a constant exchange rate basis, total sales and comparable store sales increased 13 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

In Japan, Tiffany holiday season sales increased just 1 per cent to $145 million and comparable store sales were unchanged. Management noted a difficult comparison to exceptionally strong growth in spending attributed to local customers in last year’s holiday period.

In Europe, Tiffany holiday season sales rose 14 per cent to $136 million and in the Americas by 7 per cent.

As at December 31, Tiffany operated 316 stores (125 in the Americas, 87 in Asia-Pacific, 54 in Japan, 46 in Europe, and four in the UAE), a net increase of two year-on-year.

CEO Alessandro Bogliolo, said the company was pleased with the improvement in sales during the holiday period across all regions and categories, both instore and online.

“While our major fashion jewellery collections continued to perform well, customers were equally excited about our fine jewellery, watches and our new home and accessories collection.

“This recent return to growth in worldwide comparable store sales, fuelled by a substantial improvement in the Americas and Asia Pacific, is consistent with our commitment to generate solid and sustainable growth in sales, operating margin and earnings that is at least comparable to our industry peers over the long-term.”