LVMH Execs Tout Tiffany to Counter Bad Press

By Rob Bates | January 29, 2025

LVMH executives went out of their way to talk up Tiffany on their Jan. 28 earnings call, as they repeatedly scoffed at a Bloomberg article this week that questioned their stewardship of the retailer.

Tiffany had “great results” in the fourth quarter of 2024, LVMH’s chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said on the call, according to a SeekingAlpha transcript. “Some people said that the revenue was not very good, but we did have a 9% organic growth [in the fourth quarter], which is not bad. It is just as much as the largest jewelry brands.”

That’s quite a different outlook from last summer, when Guiony acknowledged during its second-quarter earnings call that Tiffany—which LVMH acquired in 2021—was “under pressure.” His new comments were a seeming response to the latest Bloomberg article, which claimed Tiffany “was not hitting the mark in the U.S.” and had reneged on a plan to pay staff bonuses.

On Tuesday’s call, LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault blamed disgruntled ex-employees for the reports.

“At Tiffany, we had to let go some people. Retailers, shop assistants, etc., they were not happy, so they misrepresented what happened. If you look at the figures, they are very different from what was published in the press, and we are quite confident,” he said.

“Tiffany was a sleeping beauty” before LVMH purchased it, according to Arnault. “We decided to wake her up. This wake-up call was not welcomed by everyone. When you’re used to sleeping for 10 years and you’re all of a sudden asked to become fierce, and when you’re expected to achieve high objectives, some people can’t, well, don’t accept that.”

He claimed that “for 10 years before [LVMH’s] acquisition, the stock market was booming, but Tiffany remained flat because the results did not go up…. We said that we were going to pay a lot for it, but I believe that it was the contrary. Such a prestigious, well-known brand—No. 1 luxury brand in the U.S.—was acquired for an excellent price.” (LVMH paid $15.8 billion for Tiffany.)

The Landmark, Tiffany’s New York City flagship which was refurbished in 2023, had an “outstanding performance” last year, Arnault said, and is now LVMH’s No. 1 luxury store.

He added that Tiffany “still [has] a lot to do…. Our strategy is about developing icons. We have four icons, four main icons that we are developing. And they are growing substantially and gradually. We still have a few stores in the pipelines. It requires investments, but every time we open a new store or renovate a store, the revenue goes up by 25%. I am reasonably confident, and I believe that what you’ve read in the press does not necessarily reflect reality.”

Overall, LVMH’s watches and jewelry division (which includes Tiffany) posted downbeat results for 2024. Organic sales sank 2% for the year, and profits from recurring operations fell 28%, “partly due to ongoing investments in store renovations and communications, as well as exchange rate fluctuations,” said a corporate statement.

LVMH’s total revenue rose 1% for the year on an organic basis, to 84.7 billion euros (approximately $88.2 billion). The stock market considered those numbers disappointing, and the conglomerate’s shares plunged 5% following the announcement.

In the statement, Arnault said the figures showed the luxury house’s “resilience” amid “an uncertain environment.”

Top: The Landmark in New York City (photo courtesy of Tiffany)