Julia Roberts wearing Tiffany’s jewels at the 2015 SAG Awards
Tiffany’s jewels may have sparkled on the red carpet at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards but the company’s sales in the November-December holiday period were a little lack-lustre.
The company has reported that its worldwide net sales of US$1.02 billion for the two-month period in 2014 were one per cent less than in 2013.
Tiffany’s chairman and CEO Michael J. Kowalsk said sales for the holiday period “were disappointing overall with significant variability in performance by region and by product category”.
“In terms of regional performance, Asia-Pacific showed solid sales growth, sales in Japan continued to be weak, European sales rose nicely in local currencies and sales in the Americas declined slightly after a very strong start to the year,” he said.
“Regarding product categories, our very strong and concentrated marketing focus on Tiffany ‘T’ generated strong sales growth in fashion gold jewellery. However, that success did not translate into broader sales momentum as we had anticipated in other jewellery categories.”
Net sales highlights included:
• In the Americas, total sales on a constant-exchange-rate basis were equal to the prior year and comparable store sales declined one per cent reflecting mixed results around the region. In US dollars, total sales declined 1 per cent to $544 million.
• Total sales in the Asia-Pacific region on a constant-exchange-rate basis rose 10 per cent and comparable store sales increased 6 per cent, led by noteworthy growth in China and Singapore. In US dollars, total sales increased 7 per cent to $210 million.
• In Japan, total sales on a constant-exchange-rate basis declined 3 per cent and comparable store sales declined 8 per cent. In US dollars, total sales declined 16 per cent to $113 million.
• Total sales in Europe on a constant-exchange-rate basis increased 9 per cent due to growth in major continental European markets and comparable store sales rose 4 per cent. In US dollars, total sales increased 1 per cent to $133 million.
Tiffany’s president Frederic Cumenal added that the company has “meaningful global opportunities to pursue over the long-term”.
“For the coming year, however, we are planning cautiously as we anticipate significant headwinds from the stronger U.S. dollar against all of our key currencies that, as we experienced in the holiday period, negatively affects both the translation of results and sales to tourists in the US.”
As at December 31, Tiffany’s operates 296 stores (123 in the Americas, 73 in Asia-Pacific, 56 in Japan, 38 in Europe, five in the United Arab Emirates and one in Russia).