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Jeweller Pandora Sees ‘Healthy’ Sales So Far This Year 

Pandora products are seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, US, February 15, 2022. (Reuters)
Pandora products are seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, US, February 15, 2022. (Reuters)
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Jeweller Pandora Sees ‘Healthy’ Sales So Far This Year 

Pandora products are seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, US, February 15, 2022. (Reuters)
Pandora products are seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, US, February 15, 2022. (Reuters)

Pandora, the world's biggest jewellery maker, said on Wednesday its performance since the start of the year has been "healthy" with high single-digit sales growth, as it announced a share buyback program after a strong run.

Pandora has been a rare bright spot among retailers and brands targeting aspirational consumers with affordable luxury items.

The company is aiming for overall organic revenue growth of 6%-9% in 2024, it said, after reporting strong sales of its silver charms and bracelets which have helped its share price to more than double since the start of last year.

The growth target is in line with a goal set in October for a 7-9% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2026.

It also announced a share buyback program of up to 4 billion Danish crowns ($577.7 million), and a dividend of 18 Danish crowns per share. Its shares rose around 1% at the open.

A weak spot was China, where Pandora said fourth-quarter sales missed expectations, falling to 116 million crowns from 143 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Expectations for a strong post-pandemic rebound in China were derailed last year by a property crisis and high youth unemployment, curbing consumer spending and hitting luxury brands like Burberry.

China accounted for just 2% of Pandora's total revenues in 2023, down from 5% of revenues as recently as 2021.

"We're in there for the long game. It's going to be step by step, and one day China will be a significant portion of Pandora," CEO Alexander Lacik said in an interview with Reuters.

The brand, which sold 107 million pieces of jewellery in 2023, up from 103 million in 2022, has expanded its range of bracelets, with prices ranging from $60 to more than $2,000, and been opening new stores and moving away from wholesale.

"They have improved their communication and marketing very significantly," said Jaime Vazquez de Lapuerta, portfolio manager at Bestinver in Madrid, which holds Pandora shares.

Pandora has a big opportunity to open more stores in its biggest market, the United States, he added. "Then you have a potential turnaround in China, but you don't need to believe in that to be bullish on Pandora."

The company's revenue in the US increased by 2% to 8.3 billion crowns over 2023. Revenue in China fell by 9% to 564 million crowns over the year.

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Fashion

Elegance of the Edwardians on Display at Buckingham Palace

Queen Alexandra's coronation dress is the centerpiece of the exhibition. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Queen Alexandra's coronation dress is the centerpiece of the exhibition. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
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Elegance of the Edwardians on Display at Buckingham Palace

Queen Alexandra's coronation dress is the centerpiece of the exhibition. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Queen Alexandra's coronation dress is the centerpiece of the exhibition. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

A rare exhibition is exploring the glamorous lives and fashions of two royal couples who reigned over Britain during the Edwardian period as the country tipped ever closer to World War I.
"The Edwardians: Age of Elegance", which opened on Friday at the King's Gallery in Buckingham Palace, brings together more than 300 works from the Royal Collection that will be on display until November 23.

The centerpiece is the coronation gown Queen Alexandra wore on August 9, 1902, made of silk embroidered with thousands of gold sequins and designed by the French house Morin Blossier, AFP said.

Alexandra, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and sister of King George I of Greece, married Edward, then Prince of Wales, on March 10, 1863, in the chapel of Windsor Castle.

She was 18 years old. He was 22.

Alexandra was to remain the princess of Wales for almost 40 years until Edward succeeded to the throne on the death of his mother, Queen Victoria, in 1901.

Under Edward VII began the Edwardian period.

The royal couple ushered in a new generation after the austere last years of Victoria's long reign, when she largely withdrew from public life, mourning the death of her beloved husband, Albert.

'Pure drama'
For her coronation as the new queen, Alexandra decided against wearing the traditional white or cream robes, which had an ecclesiastical feel.

"She wanted that moment to be a moment of pure drama," said curator Kathryn Jones.

Realizing that electric light was to be "used for the first time in Westminster Abbey ... she chooses a gold fabric so that she shimmers with thousands of tiny spangles", Jones told AFP.

The dress is fragile and has not been on public display for some 30 years.

Conservators have spent more than 100 hours preparing it for the exhibition.

"It's a powerful example of Edward and Alexandra's attempts to balance tradition and modernity as they stood on the cusp of the 20th century -- a shining moment of glamour before the world was at war," Jones says on the exhibition's website.
Edward's gold coronation mantle is also on display, along with two thrones commissioned for the event.

Photography was still in its infancy but it allowed thousands of pictures of the new queen to be seen around the world, turning her into fashion icon and symbol of elegance of the times.

Alexandra was a keen amateur photographer herself and some of her snapshots taken with a portable Kodak camera are on display.

Two massive portraits of the couple greet visitors arriving at the King's Gallery.

One room depicts their lavish lifestyle through paintings of opulent receptions, concerts, regattas on the Isle of Wight, lavish costume balls, garden parties and their residences at Marlborough House in London and Sandringham in Norfolk.

As collectors, they amassed textiles, artworks, tableware, paintings, furniture, sculptures, plants, and rare books.

There is a copy of Oscar Wilde's "Poems" with a rare handwritten note by the author.

Edward also discovered a passion for Faberge and ordered several miniature figures of his favorite animals.

Visitors can admire paintings and water colors by such artists as Frederic Leighton, Lawrence Alma-Tadema and John Singer Sargent, as well as bronze sculptures by Alfred Gilbert.

Several rooms are dedicated to the royal couple's travels across five continents.

The exhibition also includes works collected by Alexandra and Edward's son, who became George V and was crowned in June 1911, with his wife Mary.

By then, times were changing, and instability and political turmoil roiled Europe and the British Empire.

The Age of the Edwardians was fast coming to an end.