Wall Street Journal
By Melodie Warner
Tiffany & Co.'s fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 26%, topping the company's own guidance, as it continued to post double-digit sales growth and improved margins.
Shares were trading up 2.3% at $71.65 premarket as the company raised its full-year earnings estimate to $3.45 to $3.55 a share from its March forecast of $3.35 to $3.45. The stock has risen 61% over the past year.
The jewelry retailer has seen increased sales of late, benefiting from recovering demand for high-end goods and its expansion into international markets. Tiffany had warned that store closings caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami would affect earnings by five cents a share. Those stores have since re-opened and Japan sales rose 7% to $123.4 million.
For the quarter ended April 30, Tiffany reported a profit of $81.1 million, or 63 cents a share, up from $64.4 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings rose to 67 cents from 48 cents. The most-recent quarter included a headquarters relocation charge of 4 cents, while the year-earlier quarter included a 2-cent tax benefit.
Sales jumped 20% to $761 million. Excluding currency changes, they rose 16%. In March, the company projected per-share earnings of 57 cents on an 11% sales increase.
Gross margin rose to 58.3% from 57.8%. Total same-store sales rose 19%, or 15% on a constant-exchange-rate basis.
Every geographic segment saw double-digit sales growth, including a 19% increase in the Americas—which accounted for the bulk of the total—a 37% climb in the Asia-Pacific region and a 25% rise in Europe.
