During the first quarter of 2021, €1.88 billion ($AU2.9 billion) came from LVMH’s Watches & Jewelry division – up 138 per cent compared with 2020.
The increase is largely attributed to the acquisition of international jewellery company Tiffany & Co., which was finalised in January following a fraught negotiation lasting more than a year.
Tiffany & Co.’s annual revenue – which totalled $US4.4 billion ($AU6.8 billion) in 2019, the last financial year for which figures are available – is approximately equal to that of LVMH’s existing Watches & Jewelry division, which includes TAG Heuer, Bulgari, Hublot, Zenith, Chaumet, and Fred.
A statement published on the LVMH website noted, “The Watches & Jewelry business group recorded organic revenue growth of 35 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020 and 1 per cent compared to that of 2019. The quarter marked the integration for the first time of the iconic jewelry Maison, Tiffany & Co, which saw an excellent start to the year.”
The company also noted that while the US and Asian markets have improved significantly, Europe remains hampered by temporary store closures and travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
New strategy
While LVMH management described Tiffany & Co.’s Q1 2021 performance as “excellent”, the group’s chief financial officer, Jean-Jacques Guiony, recently told investors that the company has “tremendous” potential to expand.
US publication JCK Online reports Guiony as saying, “Integrating Tiffany is very important to us... [The company is] a big acquisition for us [and] our number one priority.”
Guiony added, “It will take years to do what we want to do with this brand, from a distribution, merchandising, and marketing viewpoint. It is a lot of work – we are committed to doing it.”
One of the first changes post-acquisition was the appointment of a new CEO – former Louis Vuitton executive vice-president Anthony Ledru – as well as a new chairman of the board in Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke.
Alexandre Arnault, the 28-year-old son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and former CEO of luggage brand Rimowa, was named executive vice-president of product and communications.
Barely two months into Arnault’s tenure, Tiffany & Co. cancelled its New York Times print-edition ad, which had run on the third page since 1896; however, the jewellery company reportedly plans to continue to maintain a relationship with the newspaper.
In addition, fashion publication Women’s Wear Daily reports that Arnault has used Instagram Stories to ask followers for input into the future of Tiffany & Co., asking, “What would you like to see us do at Tiffany?”
The company has also begun utilising a new group of celebrity spokespeople; entertainer Jackson Yee – who was appointed as the face of the Tiffany T1 Collection in China last year – has been promoted to a ‘global ambassador’ role, alongside Roseanne 'Rosé' Park, of South Korean girl group Blackpink.
Meanwhile, The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy and male model Alton Mason have filmed a Tiffany commercial in New York.
Meanwhile, a new flagship store is scheduled to open in Manhattan next year and Reuters has reported that more than 300 Tiffany & Co. stores worldwide will undergo renovations.
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