The company’s Australia and New Zealand president, Brien Winther, issued a word of warning, however, saying the run of year-on-year sales increases would have to slow eventually.
In the second quarter of 2016, ended 30 June, Pandora Australia reported a revenue spike of around 30 per cent compared with the previous corresponding period.
While Winther could not confirm the exact number, stating figures were only released on a regional basis, Australia’s contribution of around 40 per cent of the total for Asia-Pacific, roughly equated to DKK317 million (AU$62 m).
Speaking in May, following strong first quarter results for 2016, Winther said he predicted the period of “high growth” would plateau and it would be unrealistic to expect it to continue.
Winther echoed this view to Jeweller following the release of the latest figures. “There is no question the current growth rate will normalise at some point,” he said.
“However, as we continue to drive consumers to our stores with targeted marketing and have quality jewellery that our consumers love, our retailers continue to experience very strong sales.”
Exceptional support
According to a company statement, Pandora Australia’s revenue rise was mainly driven by “continued strong like-for-like sales growth” as well as the opening of nine brand-only stores in the past 12 months, bringing the total number of locations in Australia to 105.
Winther commented: “We are pleased to see strong growth in all categories; however, we are particularly satisfied to see a very strong growth in rings and earrings, which have been part of our strategic focus.”
Since January this year, Pandora has increased its focus on earrings in the Asia-Pacific region and as a result, second quarter revenue for this product category rose 80 per cent compared with the previous corresponding period.
“Earrings were our strongest growth category for the quarter,” Winther said. “Whilst still a relatively small percentage of our overall business we were very pleased with the growth, which indicates we are expanding our universe of jewellery successfully.”
He added the support from retail stockists was “exceptional” during the first half of the year.
“There is no doubt that the most successful retailers understand the need to give consumers an experience they want to repeat, over and over. This has been our focus for quite some time and this will continue,” Winther said.
Globally, Pandora’s revenue increased 20 per cent to DKK4.3 billion (AU$842.4 m) – or 25 per cent in local currency – compared with the second quarter of 2015.
Pandora has a presence in more than 100 countries, with approximately 9,000 points of sale. The company has more than 1,800 brand-only stores worldwide.
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