Tiffany's 3Q profit rises on sales in Asia

(AP) -- Tiffany & Co. on Tuesday reported a 4.5 percent rise in third-quarter profit as higher sales in Asia offset weakness in the U.S. and Europe.

Its shares rose more than 6 percent in premarket trading.

The luxury jeweler's profit rose to $95.1 million, or 76 cents per share. Sales rose 1.2 percent to $949.3 million.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 67 cents per share and six analysts expected revenue of $923.2 million.

In the Americas region, total sales fell 2 percent to $417 million on softness in spending by U.S. customers while same-store sales also fell 2 percent.

Total sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose 4 percent to $247 million with strong growth in China. Still, same-store sales in the region fell 7 percent.

Sales in Europe fell 10 percent to $104 million, with same-store sales falling 14 percent. Other sales rose 18 percent to $31 million.

Looking ahead, the New York-based company continues to expect a full-year drop in sales and profit as it continues facing a tough market.

Tiffany shares rose $5.11, or 6.5 percent, to $83.25 in premarket trading about two hours before the market open.

Its shares have increased slightly more than 2 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased roughly 8 percent. The stock has declined 2 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TIF at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TIF

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