The increase was the second such this year for Tiffany, with the latest move boosting the dividend rate from $0.12 per share per quarter to a new rate of $0.15 per share per quarter, or $0.60 per share on an annualized basis. The dividend will be paid on October 10, 2007 to stockholders of record on September 20.
"Three months ago we announced a 20% increase in the dividend rate, which represented the fifth consecutive annual increase. After further consideration of Tiffany's performance, financial strength and long-term potential for generating strong earnings and cash flow, the Board concluded that increasing the dividend payout ratio was appropriate," Chairman and CEO Michael J. Kowalski said in a release.
Tiffany is a jewelry and specialty retailer that produces most of its products by using subsidiary corporations. Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany with a fancy goods emporium at 259 Broadway in Manhattan, Tiffany today boasts 150 stores in the US and international markets.
With some 8,000 employees, Tiffany scored an 11% increase in fiscal 2006 sales to $2.648 billion, some 83% of which is composed of its jewelry business. Fiscal 2006 net income was largely unchanged at $253 million.
Like many luxury labels, Tiffany has enjoyed recent rapid growth in China, adding two major new stores in that market in 2006. The flagships – a 1,900 square-foot store in Beijing's Oriental Plaza and a 700-square-foot store in Shanghai's Plaza 66 - have both benefited from significant consumer interest since opening.
The luxury label's international chain, which includes stores in London, Vienna, Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Zurich in Europe and nearly a dozen in Japan, typically offers its diamond engagement rings, Tiffany Celebration rings, diamond jewelry in platinum and eighteen-karat gold settings, lustrous pearls, fashion jewelry, watches and the collections of Paloma Picasso and Jean Schlumberger.
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