Jeweller Tiffany is projecting rosier earnings than initially thought this year thanks to a step-up in sales during the busy Christmas season, but its 2018 profit forecast lacks similar sparkle.
The company — known for its rocks and signature blue boxes — said on Wednesday that worldwide sales during the two-month holiday period ending December 31 rose 8 per cent year-on-year to $1.05bn. Comparable-store sales, a key industry metric, increased 5 per cent over the same period.
The holiday gains prompted Tiffany to lift its full-year earnings forecast for 2017. It had previously called for year-long sales growth in the low-single digit percentage range and is now targeting a more concrete 4 per cent gain. After previously looking for earnings per share growth in the high single digits over last year’s $3.55, Tiffany now expects earnings per share growth to clock a double-digit percentage increase over 2016.
But its 2018 forecast was more cautious. The company said that while it is looking for a mid-single digit percentage uptick in worldwide sales, its investment back into areas of its business like technology, marketing, digital platforms and visual merchandising would dent its profits, leaving 2018 earnings per share likely flat to down slightly from 2017.
Tiffany chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo — a luxury industry veteran who was appointed to the top job in July to help staunch a prolonged sales decline
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