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Tiffany's 3Q profit up, boosts outlook
2007-11-30
Jewelry and luxury goods retailer Tiffany & Co.'s third-quarter earnings more than tripled on strong sales growth and a hefty gain on the sale and leaseback of its Tokyo flagship store. It also boosted its earnings outlook for the full year, sending its shares up 45 cents to $49.20 in premarket trading. The New York-based retailer said Friday that net income climbed to $98.9 million, or 71 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31 from $29.1 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding a gain of 48 cents per share on the sale-leaseback of the company's Tokyo flagship store, the retailer earned 23 cents per share in the latest period. Sales increased 18 percent to $627.3 million from $531.8 million a year earlier, helped by a 9 percent rise in global sales at stores open at least one year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected profit of 25 cents per share on revenue of $616.2 million. "We are pleased with our overall businesses in the U.S. and internationally, as well as with product performance ranging from robust diamond jewelry sales to a healthy increase in silver jewelry sales," said Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and chief executive. "We are now one month into the all-important November-December holiday season and are pleased with overall sales growth that is meeting our expectations." Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 8 percent at its U.S. stores in the quarter. Same-store sales are a key indicator of a retailer's health. U.S. retail sales rose 12 percent, while international sales rose 22 percent. For the first nine months of the year, net earnings were $185.5 million, or $1.33 per share, compared with $113.4 million, or 80 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $1.88 billion for the nine-month period, compared with $1.6 billion in the year-ago period. Tiffany lifted its outlook for fiscal 2007 to a range of $2.25 to $2.30 per share, excluding charges and gains, from prior guidance of $2.22 to $2.27 per share. Wall Street has predicted full-year profit of $2.29 per share.
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