Tiffany 4Q Profits -76%

Tiffany & Co.'s profits tumbled during its fourth fiscal quarter as the weak consumer market, particularly in the U.S., took its toll on company sales. Profits for the three months ending January 31, 2009, fell 76 percent to $31.1 million, the luxury jeweler reported before the bell Monday. Tiffany took a one-time pretax charge of $97.8 million for an early retirement program and other staffing reductions in the fourth quarter. Approximately 800 employees were offered early retirement, 600 of whom accepted, Tiffany reported. There was also a $7.5 million pretax charge related to the anticipated closing of Tiffany's Iridesse retail operations, charges of $12.4 million to write off an investment in diamond mining at the Jericho mine in Canada, and a pretax charge of $3.4 million to close its diamond polishing facility in Yellowknife, Canada. Together with the drop in headcount from the early retirements and the anticipated closing of Iridesse, Tiffany expects a total staff reduction of 10 percent, resulting in approximately $60 million in pretax savings in 2009. Tiffany's net inventories increased 17 percent in fiscal year to $1.6 billion, due to lower-than-expected sales, the opening of new stores and increases in inventories of raw materials. Total debt as a percentage of stockholders’ equity was 45 percent as of January 31, versus 26 percent one year earlier. Tiffany secured $100 million of long-term financing in the fourth quarter and issued an additional $250 million of long-term debt after the close of the year. The funds are being used to refinance existing debt and for general corporate purposes.The company previously reported that its fourth-quarter sales declined 20 percent to $841 million. Same-store sales in the U.S. fell 33 percent during the period and total sales fell 30 percent. Comparable store sales saw a drop of 13 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, while in Europe they were flat. Full fiscal year profits decreased 32 percent to $220 million and sales were down 3 percent to $2.9 billion, the company reported. “Tiffany has clearly not been immune from global economic turmoil in recent months and we are taking a cautious view to business conditions in 2009,” said Michael Kowalski, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tiffany. Kowalski reported that Tiffany has reduced its cost structure “to maintain reasonably healthy levels of profitability and strong liquidity,” but added that there were no signs yet of an upturn in the business. "Our planning is based on the assumption that economic conditions will remain challenging throughout the year,” he said.

Tiffany expects an 11 percent decline in sales in 2009, assuming a sales percentage drop in the mid-teens across the Americas, the mid-single-digits in the Asia-Pacific region, and the high-single-digits in Europe. During a morning conference call, the company laid out plans to open 13 new stores in 2009, including seven in Asia. The company projected that rough diamond prices will fall an additional 20 percent during the year