Earnings Call Excerpt
Tiffany & Co. (TIF)
F3Q08 Earnings Call
November 26, 2008 8:30 am ET
Executives
Mark L. Aaron - Vice President, Investor Relations
James N. Fernandez - Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
Presentation
Operator
Good day, everyone and welcome to this Tiffany & Company third quarter earnings conference call. Today’s call is being recorded. Participating on today’s call is the Vice President of Investor Relations, Mr. Mark Aaron and the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. James Fernandez.
At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Mark Aaron. Please go ahead, sir.
Mark Aaron
Thanks you. Good morning. It was a tough third quarter in terms of sales for well known reasons but our bottom line held up well. Jim and I will review Tiffany's performance and also comment on our outlook for the remainder of the year. We hope you have already had a chance to read today’s press release.
Before continuing, please note Tiffany's Safe Harbor statement that statements made on this call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from the expectations projected in those forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is set forth in Tiffany's 2007 report on Form 10K and in other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Now let’s proceed.
After a solid first half of the year where sales and earnings growth surpassed expectations, as well as a good start to the third quarter, Tiffany's then faced a host of external challenges as the economy slowed, the credit markets froze and the equity markets tumbled. All of this dramatically affected consumer confidence and led to a further pull back in spending in the U.S. as well as initial softening in some of our non-U.S. markets.
As a result worldwide net sales in the third quarter were 1% below the prior year. Excluding the translation effect from stronger foreign currencies, sales declined 2% in the quarter. Net earnings from continuing operations were below last year but keep in mind we recorded a large gain last year related to the sale of our Tokyo flagship store building. Excluding that gain and a related contribution to the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, net earnings from continuing operations were higher than last year. You can refer to a non-GAAP analysis that is attached to today’s press release for further clarification.
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