Jeweller Pandora cuts sales growth forecast as Europe dims

By Helen Reid

LONDON (Reuters) -Danish jewellery brand Pandora cut its full year comparable sales growth forecast on Wednesday and posted weaker than expected third quarter growth as European sales dipped, sending its shares 2% lower.

Pandora's stock has tumbled around 40% since the start of 2025 as U.S. tariffs on imports and the surging price of silver add to its costs, while shoppers have grown more cautious about spending on non-essentials.

Comparable sales growth of 2% was slower than the expected 3%. In Europe it fell 1% while in the U.S., which accounts for a third of the charm bracelet maker's revenue, it grew 6%.

"The UK consumer, the French consumer and the Italian consumer and to a degree the German market are quite challenged for the (jewellery) category, and equally then for us," Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik told Reuters.

U.S. SHOPPERS ABSORB PRICE INCREASES

Pandora has raised prices to lessen the impact of the higher cost of silver, which has risen more than 65% since the start of this year, and U.S. tariffs, but Lacik said American shoppers are accepting the price hikes.

"So far so good, and it's also a relative game... if you have been travelling to the U.S. regularly like I have, you can kind of see that generally speaking pricing on pretty much everything has been going up quite a lot," he said.

Pandora, which makes its charm bracelets and necklaces at two factories in Thailand, has said U.S. tariffs will reduce its operating margin by 0.6 percentage points this year.

FOCUS ON NEW LOWER-PRICED JEWELLERY

Pandora cut its comparable sales growth guidance for 2025 to 3%-4%, from 4%-5% previously, but stuck to an organic growth forecast of 7%-8% as Lacik said new stores were doing better than expected.

The crucial holiday shopping season got off to a better start with comparable sales up 4% in October.

Pandora said new collections launched late in the third quarter, Talisman medallion charms from $45 to $125 and Minis charms starting at $30, were doing well.

"We want to focus more on affordability... on the price points, let's call them sub-40 euro/pound/dollar, where in the last few years we probably haven't innovated enough," Lacik said.

Pandora's third-quarter operating profit was 880 million Danish crowns ($137.4 million), down from 980 million in the same quarter a year ago. Its operating profit margin was 14%, down from 16.1% a year ago.

(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Anna Ringstrom and Alexander Smith)