Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. (TIF) reported a marginal improvement in fourth-quarter net earnings to $180 million, or $1.40 per share, from last year's $178 million, or $1.39 per share, a year before. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $1.36 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Quarterly worldwide net sales rose 4% year-on-year to $1.235 billion, from $1.19 billion. Analysts estimated revenues of $1.25 billion for the quarter. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, excluding the effect of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales into U.S. dollars, worldwide net sales went up 5% due to growth in all regions and comparable store sales equaled the prior year.
Looking ahead to the first quarter, net earnings from operations are expected to decline nearly 15% - 20%, due to gross margin pressure and higher marketing-related costs, to be followed by earnings growth in all subsequent quarters. Further, this forecast excludes $0.05 per share of expected first-quarter charges for staffing and occupancy adjustments.
For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2014, net earnings from operations are expected to increase 6% - 9% to a range of $3.43 - $3.53 per share, while 24 analysts project full-year earnings of $3.50 per share.
Moreover, the company expects annual worldwide net sales growth of 6% - 8% in U.S. dollars. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, an expected high-single-digit percentage increase in worldwide net sales includes sales growth in all regions, ranging from a mid-teens percentage increase in Asia-Pacific to a low-single-digit increase in Japan, according to the company.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com