Tiffany CEO says "We had terrific results in profitability' in Q3

Alessandro Bogliolo, CEO, said, "We had a strong third quarter both in sales on a relative basis and terrific results in profitability on an absolute basis, which speaks volumes about the enduring strength of the Tiffany brand and gives us confidence as we enter the important holiday season. I want to commend all our invaluable managers and extraordinary employees for the excellent results achieved in a very, very difficult environment. We believe that the results we released today demonstrate that our strong continuing execution against the strategic priorities we set three years ago positions us to achieve sustainable sales, margin and earnings growth for this legendary brand. Further to continued management focus and investment in that important market, sales in Mainland China continued to grow dramatically in the third quarter, increasing by over 70%, with comparable sales nearly doubling in that period as compared to the prior year. In addition, and consistent with our focus, e-commerce sales finished the third quarter up 92% globally as compared to the prior year, performing positively in all markets. As a result, total e-commerce sales represent 12% of total net sales in the year-to-date, as compared to 6% for each of the last three fiscal years. Finally, we saw an increase in another important metric - average unit retail price - in the third quarter in response to our strategic initiatives designed to focus consumers on our finest products, both online and in our stores. Absolutely noteworthy is the performance of T1, our newest gold and gold with diamonds collection, which was received particularly well in all markets and channels." Bogliolo closed by saying, "We look forward to surprising and delighting our consumers during the holiday season and the successful completion of the merger transaction with LVMH in early 2021."