Pandora Plans to Keep Pedal to The Metal, Despite Surging Silver Prices
This was updated at 1 p.m. CET.
PARIS – Surging silver prices or not, Pandora plans on keep pedal to the metal for 2025.
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The Danish jewelry giant said it was heading for another solid year after revenues continued to grow in the fourth quarter, the sixth consecutive period to see double-digit organic growth.
“There’s still so much growth opportunity for Pandora, so there is no consolidation, we keep investing in growing the business, in line with [what we have done],” Alexander Lacik, president and chief executive officer of Pandora, told WWD on Wednesday.
The company reported sales of 11.97 billion Danish kroner, or $1.67 billion, in the three months to Dec. 31. Organic revenues grew 11 percent, coming in at the higher end of consensus estimates.
In 2024 as a whole, Pandora posted revenues of 31 billion Danish kroner, or $4.31 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year, exceeding the 11 to 12 percent guidance it had issued for full-year revenue.
Net profit grew 13 percent to 2.87 billion Danish kroner, while the EBIT margin came in at 25.2 percent, in line with its expectations.
For 2025, the company’s initial guidance for 2025 is for 7 to 8 percent organic growth and an EBIT margin “around 24.5 percent.”
“Don’t forget that we’re guiding seven to eight percent growth for the year in a market that’s most likely not going to be growing,” he continued. “If we do as we’ve done in the last few years, we will keep taking market share, which we’re perfectly happy with, so full force forward.”
Piral Dadhania of RBC Capital Markets described the results as “mixed,” with fourth-quarter results broadly in line with expectation while current trading being above consensus providing “some reassurance.”
The analyst deemed the company’s guidance “slightly softer than expected” and likewise said the EBIT margin target on the lower end of the guidance was “likely to be received with some caution.”
The market reacted coolly to the results, with Pandora shares easing 2 percent in midday trading.
In the fourth -quarter, its core charms business grew by 2 percent, continuing to account for almost three-quarter of all sales. Meanwhile the noncharms segment saw a 13 percent increase in like-for-like terms in the quarter, “underpinning [the] promise to ensure this brand becomes the one-stop-shop for all types of jewelry,” Lacik said on an analyst call.
Asked who the consumer Pandora was attracting with the new lines introduced under its “Fuel for more” umbrella, Lacik said it was “more about the core proposition being relevant irrespective of age, or actually, of wallet size,” rather than a change in demographic.
Sitting near-alone in the branded jewelry middle market and concentrating its efforts there is what allowed the company to sell some 109 million pieces in 2024, he added.
Like-for-like sales rose 6 percent overall, with the U.S. gaining 9 percent and the rest of the world tracking at 11 percent.
Key markets in Europe came in flat, with France and Italy recording double-digit declines, while Germany leaped 28 percent. When adding smaller European territories falling under the “rest of Pandora” umbrella, Lacik pointed out the continent grew around 4 to 4.5 percent for the year.
Meanwhile in China, which accounts for 1 percent of the business, sales shrank 10 percent in the quarter. The brand will be closing “at least 50 stores” in 2025 to optimize its store network as it considers next steps.
Current trading in the first quarter stands at “high-single digit levels” in like-for-like terms, the company said, noting the contribution of a strong end-of-season sale. It sees underlying trading at “healthy mid-single digit levels.”
Among its plans are the roll-out of a new e-commerce platform globally throughout the year, aiming to “notably step up Pandora’s brand desirability,” it stated.
With some 700 million annual visits, its online platform is the largest window for the brand and the new version is expected to offer a more immersive experience. It was trialed in Q4 in Canada and Italy.
As silver prices continue to rise, Pandora plans further price increases in 2025 and 2026. Lacik said it could be up to 5 percent for this year, against a 1 to 2 percent rise in prior years. A 5 percent price increase was applied in October.
The jeweler will also continue the cost-cutting program it began in the fourth quarter to add further cost efficiencies, although Lacik did not expect benefits to really kick in until 2026.
The CEO also said there would be “no one big item” to generate savings, likening the effort to a “get fit” program, with “the idea [being] not to touch anything that has direct revenue generating impact.”
Based these mitigating actions and based on a silver price of $30.5 per ounce, the company confirmed its 2026 EBIT margin target of 26 to 27 percent, “although currently pointing towards the low-end of the range.”
“We concluded 2024 on a high, it was not an easy year,” Lacik said. “I’m sure there’s going to be new curveballs thrown at us in 2025 but we’ve shown that we are quite resilient and agile.”
One curveball could be U.S. tariffs. Discussing specifics was “premature” for Lacik, although chief financial officer Anders Boyer floated a reassuring example in a subsequent analyst call.
The CEO highlighted that the company was a “rather significant employer in the U.S.” with 8,000 employees. Pandora is also renting its stores and investing in media with U.S.-based companies as well as paying corporate tax in the country, he noted.
Separately on Wednesday, it announced a share buy-back program of 4 billion Danish kroner, running until Jan. 30, 2026.
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