US jewellery and silverware firm tiffany & Co has reported second-quarter and half-yearly that are down quite sharply on last year, but the group said it has seen some signs of a slowing in sales decline and even some sales growth.
In Europe, sales decreased 4pc to US$68.3m in the second quarter and 6pc to US$123.9m in the first half.The company, which operates 211 stores and boutiques worldwide, said it now expects a worldwide sales decline of approximately 10pc for the full year 2009."While economic and retail conditions remain challenging, we were encouraged to see many stores achieving either smaller year-over-year rates of sales declines or modest sales growth compared with the past two quarters,” said Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and chief executive officer Tiffany uk, on the company’s results.
Kowalski said the group would be pursuing a “more modest pace “of store expansion this year, but still aims to increase the number of stores by about 6pc.
Net sales in the second quarter fell 16pc to US$612.5m, with worldwide net sales declining to 14pc and comparable store sales falling 16pc.Net sales across the first six months of the year fell 19pc to US$1.13bn.In the second quarter, net earnings from continuing operations were US$56.7m, or US$0.46 per diluted share, compared with US$82.6m, or US$0.64 per diluted share one year previous.
Group sales in the Americas suffered the most in the second quarter, falling 23pc to US$324.9m in the second quarter and by 27pc in the first half of the year to US$583.9mThe Asia-Pacific region saw sales perform more robustly, with sales falling just 1pc during the second quarter to US$211.9m. Sales growth in most countries in the region was offset by a decline in Japan, tiffany jewelllery uk said. Sales in the first half declined 5pc to US$413.4m.
“We believe the current environment provides opportunity for significant gains in market share and we remain excited about Tiffany's long-term prospects,” he said.
