Tiffany's Revenue up 5% in Q4, Posts Loss Due to Swatch Court Ruling

(IDEX Online News) – Up-market jeweler Tiffany reported a five-percent rise on the year in revenue to $1.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013.

However, it posted a $104-million loss for the quarter as the firm took a $473 million pre-tax charge related to its legal dispute with Swatch when a judge in Holland ruled in favor of Swatch and ordered Tiffany to pay $449 million.

Excluding the charge, Tiffany profit actually rose to $190 million, compared with $180 million during the same quarter of 2012.

For all of 2013, Tiffany posted $4 billion in revenue, a 6 percent increase over 2012.

Net income for 2013 slumped 56 percent on the year to $181 million from $416 million in 2012.

But for the Swatch settlement, Tiffany said its full-year net income would have jumped 15 percent to $481 million.

“We are proud of our performance this past year. Sales and operating earnings (excluding the arbitration-related charge) rose to record levels,” said Tiffany Chairman and CEO Michael Kowalski.

“Sales growth was led by fine and statement jewelry, new or expanded jewelry collections including the Atlas, Ziegfeld, and Harmony collections, and continuing strength in our iconic jewelry designs.”

Looking ahead to this year, Tiffany expects global net sales to rise by a “high single digit percentage” in U.S. dollars and stores in all regions achieving growth in total sales and comparable store sales.