Tiffany & Co., the world’s second- largest luxury-jewelry retailer, raised its annual earnings forecast and said holiday sales rose after wealthy consumers started spending more, Bloomberg reported.
Revenue from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 rose 17 percent to $799.1 million, New York-based Tiffany said in a statement yesterday. Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year climbed 12 percent, with gains of 16 percent in November and 10 percent in December. A year earlier, revenue fell 21 percent, and sales at U.S. stores sank 35 percent.
Sales at Tiffany’s main New York store increased 20 percent. Jewelry sales have picked up as rich shoppers regained confidence following a rebound in stock markets and an improvement in home values, the report said.
Brian Sozzi, an analyst with Wall Street Strategies Inc. in New York, projected a 9.1 percent increase in worldwide sales in the two months over the same period in 2008.
David Schick, an analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., based in Baltimore, predicted a 7 percent increase in comparable-store sales at U.S. branches as well as at its main store in New York. He recommends holding the shares.
Tiffany fell 71 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $45.97 at 10:42 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares jumped 82 percent last year.
Tiffany increased its per-share profit forecast for the year ending Jan. 31 to as much as $2.12 from a Nov. 25 projection of at most $1.98. Analysts predicted $1.94, the average of 20 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Tiffany’s November and December sales historically have represented 80 percent to 85 percent of the jeweler’s fourth- quarter sales, according to Mark Aaron, a company spokesman.
Tiffany had 220 stores and boutiques, including 79 in the U.S., as of Dec. 31., said the report.
Retailers’ sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 1.8 percent in November and December from a year ago, the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group, reported Jan. 7. That exceeded its forecast for a 1 percent gain.
Tiffany trails Cie Financiere Richemont AG, owner of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, in worldwide jewelry sales.
Bloomberg News.