Tiffany reports 19 pct rise in 1st-quarter profit

Jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. reported Friday that strong growth in the Asia-Pacific and European markets helped its first-quarter profits rise 19 percent but said that it doesn't expect an improvement in the U.S. until later this year.

Tiffany said profits totaled $64.4 million, or 50 cents per share, in the three-month period ended April 30. That compared with $54.08 million, or 39 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The company's sales rose 12 percent to $668.15 million from $595.7 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 40 cents per share on sales of $649 million.

Shares rose 5.8 percent, or $2.76, to $50.50 in premarket trading.

Total sales in the Americas region, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin and South America, rose 6 percent to $373.6 million from $353.3 million in the year-ago period due to incremental sales from new stores. Same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, in the U.S. were unchanged from the prior year.

Same-store sales rose 16 percent in Tiffany's New York flagship store due to increased foreign tourist spending, but same-store sales at branch stores fell 4 percent. Combined catalog and Internet sales in the U.S. rose 1 percent.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes business in Japan, in Asia-Pacific countries outside of Japan and in the Middle East, rose 21 percent to $222.0 million from $183.1 million. On a constant-exchange rate basis, sales rose 10 percent and same-store sales increased 4 percent reflecting strong growth in all Asia-Pacific countries other than Japan.

Sales in Europe rose 38 percent to $60.1 million from $43.5 million. On a constant exchange rate basis, a 30 percent increase in sales was due to 12 percent same-store sales growth and incremental sales from four new stores.

In a statement, Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and chief executive, said that the company is continuing to pursue important expansion opportunities in 2008 and expects to open about 24 stores across the U.S., Asia-Pacific — other than Japan — and Europe, more than offsetting weakness in U.S. sales.

Tiffany said it remains on track to meet full-year earnings and sales growth goals. It expects worldwide net sales to rise by 10 percent in 2008 and now expects net earnings per share to increase anywhere from $2.80 to $2.90.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect $2.73 per share for the year.
Source: ap

Tiffany Says Profit Exceeded Analysts' Estimates

Tiffany & Co., the world's second- largest luxury-jewelry retailer, said fourth-quarter profit fell, beating some analysts' estimates after international revenue surged and the company boosted sales of more-profitable pieces.

Tiffany climbed the most in more than seven years in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Net income declined to $118.3 million, or 89 cents a share, for the three months through Jan. 31, from $140.5 million, or $1.02, a year earlier, New York-based Tiffany said today. Profit before one-time items including the cost of discontinuing some watch styles beat analysts' estimates, and the company increased its annual profit forecast after an inventory-valuation change.

The jeweler's revenue advanced 9.8 percent to $1.05 billion, with international sales jumping by a fifth. Growing sales in Asia and Europe are helping the jeweler overcome a slowdown in U.S. spending. American consumers have been discouraged by the worst housing slump in a quarter century and job cuts.

``With about 40 percent of sales from international markets, it offers some downside protection from the weak economic trends,'' Kristine Koerber, an analyst with JMP Securities LLC in San Francisco, wrote in a March 19 report. She rates the shares ``market outperform.''

Before one-time items including the 9 cent per-share cost of discontinuing some watch styles, Tiffany earned $1.27 cents a share. Twelve analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated average profit of $1.21, before one-time items.

Excluding the cost of the move to stop selling some watches, gross margin widened for the quarter, the company said.

Net earnings for the year that began Feb. 1 will be $2.75 to $2.85 a share, after a change in the method the company uses for valuing inventories. The company forecast $2.50 to $2.55 on Feb. 8. Seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimate net income of $2.54, on average.

Tiffany jumped $5.28, or 14 percent, to $43.88 at 10:01 a.m., the biggest gain since January 2001. The stock rose 17 percent last year.

The company had 184 stores and boutiques, including 70 in the U.S. on Jan. 31.
Source: bloomberg

Tiffany Expects 10% Sales Growth in 2008

Tiffany & Co. said Friday it is expecting double-digit international growth and single-digit domestic growth for 2008.

"Our U.S. sales results for the month of January were modestly improved from December and we are seeing ongoing strength in Asia-Pacific outside Japan and in Europe," said Michael J. Kowalski, Tiffany chairman and chief executive officer. "Generally speaking, we are planning our U.S. businesses cautiously for the first half of 2008 while planning for continued healthy international sales growth throughout the year."

For fiscal 2008, Tiffany said it is planning for at least a 10 percent increase in worldwide net sales. This includes:

* High-single-digit percentage increase in U.S. retail sales, reflecting a low-single-digit increase in comparable store sales and the planned opening of six stores;

* A mid-teens percentage increase in international retail sales, which reflects a mid-single-digit increase in same-store sales (on a constant-exchange-rate basis that excludes the effect of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales into U.S. dollars) and the opening of 15-20 stores and boutiques (net of closings);

* A mid-single-digit percentage increase in Direct Marketing sales; and

* A low-single-digit percentage increase in other sales.

Based on these sales assumptions, the company said it is planning for a mid-single-digit percentage increase in net earnings and a low-double-digit increase in diluted earnings per share (reflecting fewer shares outstanding).

"We enter the new fiscal year with confidence in our store expansion opportunities, our line-up of new product designs, and our ability to enhance customer awareness through our marketing program," Kowalski said. "We believe our 2008 financial expectations appropriately reflect current macro-related challenges in the U.S. as well as the benefit of our global, geographical diversification which, combined with planned margin and expense levels, can generate low-double-digit net earnings per share growth for the year."

The company expects to report its fourth quarter and full year results on March 24.
Source: jckonline

Investor increases stake in Tiffany

An activist investor is buying up shares of another long-standing, well-known U.S. retail jewelry chain.

Nelson Peltz, through his New York-based company Trian Fund Management GP, LLC, increased his stake in Tiffany and Co. to 7.9 percent, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows.

The filing shows Peltz, through his Trian companies, now owns a total of 10.7 million shares of stock in the iconic jewelry company.

Another activist investor, Richard Breeden, has also been buying stock in a jewelry store chain recently; he now owns an 18.1 percent share of the struggling Zale Corp.

In other Tiffany news on Friday, the company announced it is expanding its stock-repurchase program and authorized the repurchase of up to $500 million in common stock.

The increase enables Tiffany to repurchase up to $637 million of its common stock through Jan. 11, 2011.

The board's last increase took place in August 2006, when it authorized the repurchase of up to $813 million of stock through Dec. 31, 2009.

Tiffany has approximately 127 million shares outstanding.

Tiffany also announced the opening of two new stores in Japan: a 5,000-square-foot boutique in Tokyo, and a 1,700-square-foot one in Fukuoka.

With these openings, the New York-based luxury retail jeweler now operates 56 stores in Japan.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork

Tiffany accuses eBay of failing to stop counterfeit jewelry sales

A lawyer for Tiffany & Co. accused eBay Inc. on Tuesday of allowing the sale of tens of thousands of pieces of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry on its Web site; an eBay lawyer responded that Tiffany wasn't doing its share to protect customers.

The arguments in U.S. District Court in Manhattan came at the start of a trial to decide whether eBay can be blamed for the sales of silver Tiffany knockoffs on its Internet site since 2003.

James B. Swire, Tiffany's lawyer, said eBay "simply turned a blind eye" to the sales.

Bruce Rich, eBay's lawyer, said the site has suspended hundreds of thousands of sellers who broke its rules.

He blamed Tiffany for failing to protect its own trademarks by notifying eBay when it spots sales that seem suspicious. Rich said that when companies do so, eBay often stops the sales even before it can check whether they are legitimate.

In a 2004 lawsuit, Tiffany said it notified eBay a year earlier that thousands of pieces of fake silver jewelry were being sold as if they were genuine Tiffany products.

Swire said the company randomly bought 325 items being sold as genuine Tiffany jewelry on eBay's Web site from among 280,000 listings related to Tiffany products. Of those, 75 percent turned out to be fake, he said.

He said there was no evidence that eBay did anything to stop the false sales after it reported its findings to the company.

Instead, he said, eBay supports sellers, offering marketing assistance that includes conducting seminars on how to grow the online jewelry business.

Rich said eBay spends more than $10 million annually to clean counterfeit merchandise from its site, which carries 6 million postings a day.

He said the company relies on the expertise of more than 14,000 copyright and trademark owners to find counterfeit merchandise.

"It cannot get it done by itself," Rich said of eBay.

"We never see this merchandise. We don't turn a blind eye to it," he said. "We turn people over to law enforcement all the time."

He said eBay's success relies on creating a safe and friendly business.

"There are a lot of bad guys out there and eBay spends an enormous amount of money trying to keep up with it," Rich said.
Source: contracostatimes

JEWELRY: Tiffany sells flagship Ginza store

Tiffany & Co. said Thursday it has sold the land and building for its Tokyo flagship store for more than double what it paid four years ago.

The store in the upscale Ginza shopping district sold for $328 million (about 38.05 billion yen), $188 million more than the $140 million the company paid in 2003.

The New York-based jewelry company did not disclose the buyer, but local media reports said the store was purchased by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which has been buying up Japanese real estate, particularly prestigious plots in urban centers.

Despite the ownership change, the building will continue to house Tiffany's Ginza store on a leasing contract with Goldman Sachs, the reports said.
Source: asahi

Tiffany to Open Boutique in Nagoya

Tiffany & Co. on Thursday announced plans to open a new boutique in Matsuzakaya Nagoya, in the Nagoya flagship store. The 2,300 square-foot store is scheduled to open Sept. 26 and is located in Sakae, Nagoya-shi, an area with luxury shopping and restaurants.

The store will represent Tiffany's third Nagoya location and its 54th location in Japan. Customers will enter the boutique through a stone arch bordered by honey onyx. The interior is distinguished by a purple color palette, green sycamore stained hardwood, rice paper wall coverings, and custom furniture.

The boutique will include the collections of exclusive Tiffany designers Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, Jean Schlumberger, and Frank Gehry; fine and bridal jewelry; sterling silver and gold fashion jewelry; watches; and gifts.
Source: jckonline

China seizes fake "Tiffany" jewels headed for U.S.

Chinese customs officials have seized more than 6,000 pieces of counterfeit "Tiffany" jewelry headed for the United States, state media reported on Tuesday, as Beijing battles accusations it is soft on pirates.

Three shipments of the fake jewelry, inscribed with the upmarket brand of Tiffany and Co., were intercepted in east China's Zhejiang province, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The items included necklaces, earrings and bracelets. The report did not describe their quality.

Beijing has been fending off complaints from the United States and European Union that it has not done enough to stamp out counterfeiters who copy films, music, software and luxury brands.

Washington and Brussels also say that many of the counterfeits reach overseas markets.

Tiffany & Co. said on Monday it had won an injunction from a federal court against Starglam Inc., an e-commerce business which the high-end jewelry retailer said had been selling fake Tiffany-branded items made in Asia.

The Chinese report made no mention of that case.
Source: reuters

Blue Nile, Tiffany Make the Hot List

Blue Nile Inc. and Tiffany & Co. are the two hottest jewelry retailers in the U.S., according to an annual survey of retailers.

Stores magazine, the official magazine of the National Retail Federation, ranked Blue Nile, the Seattle-based online jewelry and diamond retailer, 20th on its "Hot 100 Retailers" list. The venerable luxury jeweler Tiffany came in at 92. No other jewelry retailer made the list, which appeared in the magazine's August issue. The list highlights retail companies with a minimum of $100 million in annual revenues that reported the greatest increase in year-over-year revenues in 2006.

Blue Nile reported revenues of nearly $251.6 million, a 23.8 percent increase over the previous year's earnings. Meanwhile, Tiffany posted revenues of more than $2.6 billion in 2006, an increase of nearly 10.6 percent over 2005 revenues. While revenues soared for both companies, earnings for the year declined by less than 1 percent (Blue Nile 0.7 percent, Tiffany 0.3 percent), according to the rankings.

Among general merchandise retailers that sell fine jewelry, Seattle-based Internet retailer Amazon.com came in at number 19 with a 26.1 percent increase in revenues in 2006 to $10.7 billion. Federated Department Stores (which has been renamed Macy's Inc.) came in at 28th with a 20.4 percent increase 70 $26.9 billion.

Among big box retailers, Target was ranked 70th on the list with a 13 percent increase in revenues to $59.5 billion. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and the world's largest jewelry retailer, came in at number 78 with an 11.7 percent increase in revenues to $348.6 billion.

Nordstrom finished 89th on the list with a nearly 10.6 percent increase in revenues to $8.6 billion.
Source: jckonline

Tiffany & Co. to Open Jewelry Store in Belgium

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), the internationally renowned jeweler, today announced plans to open a store in Brussels, Belgium, in fall 2008. The approximately 2,100 square-foot store will occupy a prominent location at Boulevard de Waterloo 66, the city’s premier street for luxury shopping.

“As center of the European Union and the capital of Belgium, we consider Brussels an exciting new market for Tiffany,” said Cesare Settepassi, vice president, Tiffany & Co. Europe. “Our prime location at Boulevard de Waterloo positions us to introduce our heritage of quality, craftsmanship and superior service to residents and visitors.”

The jeweler will offer an array of renowned TIFFANY & CO. collections, including the world’s finest diamonds in dazzling engagement rings and jewels in platinum and eighteen-karat gold settings; rare and lustrous pearls; the signature designs of Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, Jean Schlumberger and Frank Gehry; watches; accessories and gifts.

Brussels will be the jeweler’s first location in Belgium.