A crackdown on China’s “daigou” re-sale industry has hit Chinese tourist spending at Tiffany’s US and Hong Kong stores and contributed to a sharp slowdown in sales growth at the upscale jeweller during the third quarter.
Shares in Tiffany slumped nearly 12 per cent in morning trade — putting them on track for their worst day in nearly three years — after the company reported an underwhelming 3 per cent rise in same-store sales for the three months to October 31. The figure, which excludes currency fluctuations, fell well short of the 5.4 per cent increase that analysts were expecting and was down from the 7 per cent pace recorded in the second quarter.
The slowdown — coming just ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season — is likely to stoke fears that the turnround Tiffany has seen under new chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo could be losing steam.