What Hong Kong's Protests May Mean For Tiffany, Coach
With Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests spreading to some of its key shopping areas, Sterne Agee analyst Ike Boruchow cut his Asia sales estimates for Coach Inc. , Fossil Inc. , Tiffany & Co. and Kate Spade & Co. on Thursday. The impasse comes as China begins its 7-day Golden Week holiday on Wednesday, the analyst said. Hong Kong is China's No. 1 tourist destination representing 65% of China's total outbound visits, he said. He added the higher end retailers he spoke to on a recent field trip there noted up to 90% of their businesses come from shoppers visiting from the mainland while 60% of local mall operators told him their daily traffic comes from Chinese tourists. He estimated Tiffany's nine Hong Kong locations represent 13% of its Asia store base, excluding Japan. He cut Tiffany's fiscal third-quarter Asia comparable store sales estimate to a 1% gain from a 4% increase. He lowered Coach's China sales growth rate to a 12% gain from 15% for both fiscal second quarter and third quarters.
Copyright © 2014 MarketWatch, Inc.