Tiffany & Co. said veteran executive James N. Fernandez will
retire in July, ending a 30-year career with the high-end jewelry
retailer.
Ralph Nicoletti, who is 56 years old, will replace Mr. Fernandez
as Tiffany's finance chief April 2. Mr. Nicoletti will oversee the
company's financial functions and its information technology,
Tiffany said.
Mr. Nicoletti had resigned as insurer Cigna Corp.'s CFO in
September.
The role of chief operating officer will be eliminated when Mr.
Fernandez, 58 years old, retires in July. Before taking over as CFO
last November, he had previously served in the role from 1989 to
2011.
"In addition to his extraordinary leadership of the financial
and information technology organizations at Tiffany, Jim also
played a critical role in building a world-class distribution,
manufacturing and diamond-sourcing infrastructure," Chairman and
Chief Executive Michael J. Kowalski said.
Tiffany is coming off a holiday season that met its
expectations, with sales rising 4% on growth across all
regions.
The company is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter results
Friday.
Shares of the company were inactive in premarket trading. The
stock closed at $92.67 Tuesday, and is down slightly so far this
year.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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