On Monday, Danish jewelry brand pandora reported key financial data for the third quarter, attributing strong sales in the U.S., which raised its full-year forecast. But pandora's shares fell 6.5 percent to DKK 842.9 per share as investors worried about weak sales in its direct stores as monday closed.
In terms of capacity, Pandora is the world's largest jewelry manufacturer. Pandora's stock price has soared 40 percent this year as sales have returned to pre-pandemic highs since the lockdown was lifted and stores reopened.
But pandora direct store sales rose just 5 percent in the third quarter, compared with a 14 percent increase previously expected by analysts. Sydbank analyst Per Fogh said, "The growth in the third quarter was a bit disappointing. "
Still, Pandora said sales in the U.S., its largest market, continued to be strong in the third quarter, thanks to massive government measures and vaccine penetration spurring consumer spending. "Sales growth and EBIT improved both as the U.S. continued strong performance and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions drove continuous improvements in European performance."
Pandora raised its full-year forecast, now expecting sales to grow organically by 18 to 20 percent in 2021, up from 16 to 18 percent previously expected, equating to annual sales between DKK 22.4 billion and 22.8 billion, and EBIT ratios up 24 to 24.5 percent, up from 23 to 24 percent previously forecasts, though still below the 24.6 percent increase expected by analysts on average last month.
Pandora added: "The COVID-19 pandemic and the unusually high growth rates in the United States continue to create more uncertainty about performance expectations. ”
Pandora's key financial figures for the third quarter are as follows:
Sales of DKK 4.728 billion exceeded analysts' expectations of DKK 4.67 billion. Organic growth of 14% year-on-year and organic growth of 9% over the same period in 2019. Including temporarily closed stores, the report increased by 5% year-on-year and 9% from the same period in 2019.
EBIT was 957 million crowns, higher than analysts' expectations of 917 million crowns, and EBIT was 20.2 percent.
Pandora will announce its full third-quarter earnings report on November 3.