Tiffany's results beat as sales in Europe, Americas rise

Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales, helped by strong demand for its Tiffany T line and higher sales in the Americas and Europe.

Shares of the company, which reiterated its full-year earnings forecast, rose 7.5 percent to $91.95 in premarket trading on Wednesday.

The company said total sales fell 5 percent in the first quarter ended April 30. The company said in March that it expected first-quarter sales to drop 10 percent.

Tiffany's sales in the Americas region rose 1 percent to $444 million. In Europe sales rose 2 percent.

Tiffany's sales have been hurt by a strong dollar as it discourages tourists from spending in its U.S. stores and reduces the value of overseas sales.

The company also reported a lower-than-expected decline in comparable sales in the quarter.

Overall comparable sales fell 7 percent, compared with the 9 percent decline analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix had expected.

Comparable sales in the Americas region fell 1 percent, while they fell 2 percent in Europe.

Analysts had expected comparable sales to decline 4.9 percent in the Americas and 11.6 percent in Europe.

The company's net income fell to $104.9 million, or 81 cents per share, in the first quarter from $125.6 million, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 5 percent to $962.4 million.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 70 cents per share on revenue of $918.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

$1 = £0.65