Tiffany & Co Issues a Very Bullish Sales and Earnings Forecast for FY2008

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- Although Americans might be enduring a period of tight-fistedness or frugality when it comes to considering upscale-consumer purchases, Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) evidently believes that the same might not be true worldwide, since the company projects that its own net sales for fiscal year 2008 are going to increase significantly.

In fact, Tiffany is projecting at least a 10 percent increase in worldwide net sales, the company said in a press release.

The company expects both its domestic and international sales to increase.  Still, it expects U.S. sales to rise only by single-digit percentages, while it expects its overseas sales to rise by double-digit percentages.

In its Jan 11 2007 earnings statement, Tiffany reported that the company’s international sales rose 12 percent when the exchange rate is kept constant, with its largest increases in Asia.  Specifically, while sales increased only one percent in Japan, they increased by a whopping 30 percent in other Asian-Pacific countries.

The company’s newest guidance statement clearly indicates that it expects this trend to continue:

Our U.S. sales results for the month of January were modestly improved from December, and we are seeing ongoing strength in Asia-Pacific outside Japan and in Europe,” said CEO/Chairman Michael J Kowalski in the Tiffany’s Friday statement.

“Generally speaking, we are planning our U.S. businesses cautiously for the first half of 2008 while planning for continued healthy international sales growth throughout the year," he added.

Based on its FY2008 projections for net sales, the company expects its FY2008 net earnings per diluted share to increase to a range of $2.50-$2.55; this compares with net earnings per diluted share with an estimated range of $2.25-$2.28 made in FY2007.

The markets responded to the company’s sales forecast favorably, sending its share price up from its previous close of $38.18 to $40.00 in early-noon Friday trading (1:05pm ET).  This also compares favorably with the company’s share price of $34.93 in late morning trading on Jan 11 (11:47am ET), which was the day of its last earnings statement.

NewsVisual decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to illustrate the business connections of the company’s Board of Directors as a method for assessing their knowledge of international sales trends and earnings projections.

The Knowledge Map shows that several of Tiffany’s Directors also serve on the boards of other companies.  The one with the most involvement, however, is Director J Thomas Presby, who sits on a total of five other boards; they include: American Eagle Outfitters, Amvescap Plc, First Solar Inc, TurboChef Technologies Inc, and World Fuel Services Inc.

Director Rose Marie Bravo’s other board room experience is also especially noteworthy, because she is also a Director for two other companies that cater to upscale consumers, Burberry Limited and Estee Lauder Companies Inc.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Click here or copy this link into your Internet Explorer browser for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=3ea6d00f-8027-4e99-aaa4-ecdb8b4f15de