Tiffany 4Q net income rises less than 1 pct

NEW YORK — Tiffany says its fourth-quarter net income edged up less than 1 percent, but managed to beat Wall Street predictions.

The New York-based jewelry company also says it expects its first-quarter earnings from operations will fall about 15 percent to 20 percent as a result of profitability pressures and higher marketing costs, but pick up later in the year.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Tiffany earned $179.6 million, or $1.40 per share. Revenue rose 4 percent to $1.24 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.36 per share on $1.25 billion in revenue.

For 2013, the company projected earnings of $3.43 to $3.53 per share on sales growth of 6 percent to 8 percent. Analysts expect a profit of $3.46 per share.