Tiffany & Co has said that its first quarter net income rose 3% as sales improved across all regions. The results beat Wall Street expectations.
Tiffany is a barometer of luxury spending so the latest results show the resilience among affluent shoppers despite economic challenges around the globe.
But the company remains cautious about the environment and said it was sticking to its profit outlook.
The high-end jewellery company known for its blue boxes earned $83.6m, or 65 cents per share, for the period ended April 30. That is up from $81.5m, or 64 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding costs tied to staff and occupancy cuts, earnings were 70 cents per share. This easily beat the 53 cents per share analyst expected.
Revenue for the New York company rose 10% to $895.5m from $819.2m, topping Wall Street's $855.7 million estimate. Sales increased 9% globally to $895m.
The conversion of five Tiffany stores in the United Arab Emirates to company-run stores from independently-run stores in July helped other sales triple to $27m. Sales for the Asia-Pacific region rose 15% to $223m.
Sales were helped by promotional events tied to Tiffany's 175 anniversary as well as a tie-in for "The Great Gatsby" movie, for which the company designed the jewellery.
In the Americas, sales climbed 6% to $408m. European sales also increased 6% to $93m, while sales in Japan rose 2% to $145m.
Chairman and chief executive Michael Kowalski said in a statement that the chain was sticking with its guidance because of ongoing soft sales in the Americas and the weaker yen. The company had 275 stores by the end of the quarter.
