Sales in the Asia-Pacific market were US$230 million (AU$306 m) in the second quarter of 2016, ended 31 July – 6 per cent lower than the corresponding period in 2015.
The region’s revenue for the first half of 2016 was US$469 million (AU$624 m), which represented a 7 per cent drop from last year.
The exact amount for Australia was not specified in the company’s latest financial statement; however, when referring to Asia-Pacific results during a conference call, Tiffany & Co investor relations vice president Mark Aaron spoke positively about the brand’s local presence.
“During the quarter, we expanded our successful presence in Australia when we opened two stores, one at the Pacific Fair Centre on the Gold Coast and one at the Sydney International Airport, and we now operate nine stores in Australia,” he commented.
Aaron attributed Asia-Pacific’s sales decline to a combination of lower average price, lower unit volume and “a shift in mix and reflected softness across much of the region”.
International results
Internationally, sales declined 7 per cent to US$1.8 billion (AU$2.4 billion) and same store sales fell 9 per cent for the first half of 2016.
Revenue for the six-month period dropped 11 per cent in Europe and 9 per cent in the Americas. The only location to buck the trend was Japan, which achieved a 9 per cent sales increase.
Aaron said worldwide sales were close to “what we anticipated” and continued to reflect a trend across all regions for the last few quarters caused partly by lower domestic customer spending but also lower tourist spending, predominantly by Chinese tourists.
Frederic Cumenal, Tiffany & Co CEO, said: "The global environment continues to reflect well known challenges that we believe have had broad effects on spending by local customers, as well as foreign tourists, especially from China.
“We are managing expenses efficiently, but also maintaining our marketing spending as a percentage of sales and continuing to invest in key strategic initiatives and opportunities to further strengthen Tiffany's competitive position among global luxury brands.”
Tiffany & Co operated 311 stores as of 31 July – 83 in the Asia-Pacific region, 125 in the Americas, 55 in Japan, 43 in Europe and five in the United Arab Emirates.
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