Jewelry marketer Tiffany & Co. saw its first-quarter sales drop from $668.1 million a year ago to $523.1 million during the quarter just ended. The company’s net earnings fell from $64.4 million to $24.3 million during the same period. The quarter ended April 30.
Within the United States, catalog and Internet sales slipped by 17%, according to the company, which did not break out dollar amounts. In contrast, comparable store sales declined 34%, including a 32% drop in comparable branch store sales and a 42% drop in the company’s New York City flagship store. Worldwide sales declined by 22%, or 18% on a constant exchange rate basis.
During an earnings teleconference call, VP of investor relations Mark L. Aaron cited “competitive headwinds” including “continued and unprecedented levels of discounting by many competitors, including liquidation sales by some who will likely be closing their stores.
“Our e-commerce and catalog businesses in the U.S. also continued to experience cautious consumer spending in the quarter,” Aaron added, according to a transcript of the teleconference provided by Seeking Alpha. “Their combined sales declined 17%, which slightly exceeded our expectation and was on top of a 1% increase last year. The sales decline continued to mostly reflect a decline in the number of orders while the average order size was down slightly. As we previously reported, we are decreasing catalog mailings this year by reducing the frequency of some mailings and relying more on e-mail marketing communications to drive customers to our website and stores.”
The Gossip’s Take: Two notes of interest came out of the Tiffany earnings call, according to the transcript. First, unlike calls hosted by other companies, in which C-level executives take charge, the initial discussion of the company’s first-quarter fortunes was lead by VP of investor relations Mark L. Aaron took the lead on the call. CFO and executive VP James N. Fernandez ran through the earnings statement, the balance sheet and the company’s outlook for the rest of the year. Chairman and CEO Michael J. Kowalski, who was quoted in a statement accompanying the company’s results, was nowhere in evidence. More eyebrow-raising worthy, however, was Tiffany’s decision not to take any questions from listeners, at least according to Seeking Alpha’s transcript of the call. Why not?
