For the full year ended 31 January 2017, overall company sales declined 3 per cent to US$4 billion (AU$5.3 b). Same-store sales fell 5 per cent.
The Asia-Pacific region – which includes Australia – recorded a flat result. Sales totalled US$1 billion (AU$1.3 b) for the period, a figure that was said to be approximately equal to the prior year.
According to the company’s annual financial report, Tiffany & Co management attributed performance in the Asia-Pacific market to increased purchasing by local consumers and decreased purchasing by foreign tourists.
Elsewhere, a 5 per cent sales decline to US$1.8 billion (AU$2.3 b) was reported in the Americas, while Europe recorded a 10 per cent fall to US$458 million (AU$610 m). Japan was the only region to buck the trend with a 12 per cent rise in sales to US$604 million (AU$804 m). Combined sales across all other operating regions increased 8 per cent to US$99 million (AU$131 m).
Looking ahead
The financial statement noted that management was confident the outlook would improve in the coming year.
“Despite macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges in the past year that we believe will continue in 2017, we strongly believe that Tiffany’s strategies are sound and that we have meaningful growth opportunities,” Tiffany & Co chairman and interim CEO Michael Kowalski commented.
According to the report, the forecast for the 2018 fiscal year included increasing sales in the period by a “low-single-digit” percentage.
Expanding the company’s ‘global retail square footage’ 3 per cent was also on the agenda. This would be achieved through 11 store openings, nine relocations and six closings.
In 2016, there were 11 store openings, five store closures and five store relocations. At the end of January 2017, Tiffany & Co operated 313 stores: 125 in the Americas, 85 in Asia-Pacific, 55 in Japan, 43 in Europe and five in the UAE.
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