Overseas Sales Help Tiffany Beat Expectations - NYTimes.com

Tiffany reported earnings of $43.3 million, or 35 cents a share, for its third quarter, which ended Oct. 31, down 1 percent from a year earlier. Earnings from continuing operations were 34 cents a share, topping the average Wall Street forecast of 24 cents.

Sales at stores open at least a year fell 6 percent. That figure is a key indicator of retailer performance because it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Tiffany has tried to offset some of its sales weakness with cost-cutting and inventory management. Selling, general and administrative expenses declined to $261 million from $265.6 million, while net inventories were 6 percent below the previous year at quarter’s end.

The luxury goods sector has experienced sharp declines in sales during the recession, but Tiffany’s results signaled that the high end of the market could be on the mend, said Matt Arnold, an analyst at Edward Jones & Company.

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Asia-Pacific sales rose 10 percent and European sales climbed 12 percent during the quarter.

“The main thing that sticks out to me is that trends continue to improve, and this should persist for a while,” Mr. Arnold said.

For the full year, Tiffany said profit from continuing operations would be as much as $1.98 a share, up from a previous estimate of $1.75 a share.

Strong overseas sales and cost-cutting helped Tiffany & Company post better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday and to raise its profit outlook for the full year.

Revenue dropped 3 percent, to $598.2 million.

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Tiffany sales in the Americas declined 9 percent, with revenue at its flagship New York store down 8 percent. Even though overseas tourists were not traveling as much to New York, they were still spending at Tiffany stores in their own countries, Mr. Arnold said.

Sales declines in the United States were slowing and overseas sales were coming in better than expected, Tiffany said, while sales of lower-priced items were faring better than more expensive jewelry.