Tiffany records increase in Q3 earnings as China sales improve 70 percent

Tiffany & Co. has said that in the third quarter, worldwide net sales returned to the billion dollar level and represented a decrease of 1 percent as compared to the prior year; on a constant-exchange-rate basis, worldwide net sales for the three months were 2 percent below the prior year. The company said, net earnings increased 52 percent to 119 million dollars, showing 73 percent improvement when excluding certain costs related to the merger. Net earnings per diluted share were 98 cents versus 65 cents in the prior year.In the year-to-date, worldwide net sales decreased 25 percent on a constant-exchange-rate and decreased 24 percent in the nine months as compared to the prior year, while net earnings turned positive in the year-to-date.