May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Tiffany & Co., the world's second- largest luxury-jewelry retailer, said first-quarter profit rose 19 percent and forecast full-year earnings that may beat analysts' estimates on a surge in jewelry sales abroad.

Tiffany climbed 2.2 percent in New York trading.

Net income increased to $64.4 million, or 50 cents a share, from a revised $54.1 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, New York-based Tiffany said today in a statement. Profit exceeded analysts' estimates by 9 cents.

European sales jumped 38 percent, while locations in Asia had a 21 percent increase in revenue. Sales at Tiffany's main New York store rose 16 percent as foreign tourists bought jewelry. Clothing designer Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. said earlier this week that profit surged 41 percent, helped by European purchases.

``Fifty cents is a very good number,'' David Schick, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore, said today in a telephone interview. ``Tiffany is still underexposed in Europe and Asia, outside of Japan, and when you are underexposed, your stores do very, very well because the consumer seeks them out.''

The New York-based company had 192 stores and boutiques, including 93 in the Asia region and 18 in Europe as of April 30.

The retailer plans to accelerate its international expansion, increasing the number of worldwide locations by 15 percent through early 2009.

Tiffany rose $1.06 to $48.80 at 9:34 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Through yesterday, the shares advanced 3.7 percent this year, heading for their fourth straight annual gain.

Sales

Revenue for the three months through April 30 climbed 12 percent to $668.1 million, Tiffany said as the dollar declined against 7 of 10 major currencies.

Sales at U.S. stores open at least 12 months were unchanged from a year earlier, with a 4 percent decline at its locations outside the main store in New York. Chief Executive Officer Michael Kowalski said in today's statement that conditions were ``challenging'' in the U.S. and that he didn't expect an improvement until later this year.

``It's a global brand, and it's hard for a company with the reach of Tiffany to have everything working absolutely,'' Schick said. The analyst recommends holding the shares.

Full-year profit will be $2.80 to $2.90 a share, higher than an earlier projection of as much as $2.85, Tiffany said. Sixteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted average full-year profit of $2.76.

Tiffany's revised forecast comes after it said May 15 that first-quarter profit would surpass a previous estimate of 39 cents a share because of what Kowalski called a ``promising start to the year.''

Eleven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated average profit of 41 cents on that basis, while eight saw quarterly sales of $653 million.

Cie. Financiere Richemont AG, based in Geneva, is the world's largest luxury-jewelry seller. The owner of the Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels brands said May 22 that net income rose 9.5 percent in the second half of the fiscal year through March, the slowest profit growth in 2 1/2 years after the dollar's decline.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 30, 2008 09:35 EDT