Tiffany & Co. on Tuesday posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter of 2013. Net sales rose 4 percent to USD926 million for the three months ended on 31 July 2013. Excluding currency swings, net sales advanced 8 percent. Comparable store sales rose 5 percent due to growth in most regions. Net profits increased 16 percent to USD107m, compared with USD92m the prior year.
Total sales in the Asia-Pacific region jumped 20 percent to USD208m in the second quarter. At constant currencies, total sales also rose 20 percent. Comparable store sales surged 13 percent during the period, led by especially strong sales growth in Greater China.
Business in Japan continued to be strong in the second quarter. The negative translation effect from a substantially weaker yen caused total sales to decline 14 percent to USD136m during the period. However, stripping out the effect of exchange rates, total sales increased 7 percent.
The Luxury jeweller opened one store in the second quarter in Hong Kong and closed one in Tokyo. By the end of July, Tiffany operated 277 stores worldwide including 67 stores in Asia-Pacific and 54 in Japan.
The company said it expected to increase net sales by a mid-single-digit percentage for the fiscal year ending on 31 January 2014.
It also plans to open seven company-operated stores in Asia-Pacific and close one each in Asia-Pacific and Japan.