Tiffany raises forecast as sales rise worldwide

By IBT Staff Reporter On 08/26/11 AT 9:40 AM

Tiffany & Co raised its full-year profit outlook as more shoppers worldwide bought its jewelry during the bridal season, helping it overcome rising gold and diamond costs and sending its shares up more than 5 percent.

Tiffany's sales gains were strong across the board during the quarter ended July 31, a period that includes the Mother's Day and bridal seasons, which are second in sales only to the end-of-year holidays for jewelers.

Chief Executive Stephen Kowalski said that sales so far in the current quarter are outpacing Tiffany's own forecasts despite continuing economic uncertainty.

The company said it expects sales to rise by a high teen percentage for the year ending in late January, up from aprevious forecast of a mid-teen percentage increase.

At its flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, where it gets about a tenth of its business, sales rose 41 percent, helped by international tourists.

In Asia, outside of Japan, revenue rose 45 percent excluding the effect of a weak dollar, thanks to the appetite of China's emerging middle class for Western luxury brands.

Sales also rose by double digits in Europe, where wealthy Russian and Chinese tourists account for as much as a quarter of total luxury spending by some estimates. Sales also rebounded in Japan, which is still recovering from the debilitating earthquake and tsunami in March.

Overall, Tiffany sales, excluding the effect of currency translations, rose 24 percent to $872.7 million in the second quarter, while sales at stores open at least