(Reuters) - Tiffany & Co said on Thursday sales have been rising through October as its business rebounds from pandemic lows, firing back at French luxury giant LVMH, which is looking to scrap its $16 billion deal for the U.S. jeweler.
The companies have been locked in a legal battle since LVMH last month cited worsening business conditions at Tiffany as one of the reasons to walk away from the deal.
Tiffany, which has alleged in a lawsuit that LVMH improperly tried to renegotiate the deal, said on Thursday sales in Mainland China were "extremely strong" and its business was recovering in the United States after being hit earlier in the year.
LVMH has said Tiffany's prospects were "dismal" and it was a different company from the one it had agreed to buy in November before the health crisis hammered demand for luxury goods.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tiffany's preliminary results.
Tiffany said on Thursday fourth-quarter earnings are expected to increase by mid-to-high single digit percentage from a year earlier, with online sales nearly doubling in August and September.
The New York-based company expects a cash balance of about $900 million at year-end.
LVMH is set to gain EU antitrust approval for the acquisition, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The European Commission is scheduled to decide on the deal by Oct. 26.
LVMH is expected to publish its third-quarter results later on Thursday.