Adds comments by CEO in interview

By Helen Reid

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Jewellery brand Pandora PNDORA.CO said an unwillingness to spend by mid- to lower-income shoppers pushed down comparable sales by 2% in North America, as new CEO Berta de Pablos-Barbier grapples with weak consumer sentiment in its core market amid the Iran war.

Pandora has been under pressure from high U.S. import tariffs and a surge in silver prices squeezing margins at the Danish firm which sells silver charm bracelets, priced at $70 and up, made at its factories in Thailand.

"The K-shaped economy is actually deepening, so what we see is that the high-income consumers continue to have a good time and it is mainly the middle and the low (income consumers) with high inflation, high interest rates, high fuel prices... so they are disproportionately impacted," de Pablos-Barbier, who took over on January 1, told Reuters in an interview.

Fewer people are visiting stores and malls, de Pablos-Barbier said, adding that the longer the war continues the more consumer sentiment will be impacted.

Comparable sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region also fell 2% over the quarter.

RESULTS BEAT EXPECTATIONS

However, Pandora's shares jumped 9% as first-quarter sales beat analysts' expectations thanks to strong growth in Latin America and Asia-Pacific helping to offset the weaker core regions.

Overall revenue fell to 7.109 billion crowns ($1.12 billion) from 7.347 billion crowns a year ago, but beat the 7.089 billion crowns analysts had expected in a company-compiled poll.

Pandora's shares have been volatile, moving sharply in reaction to wild swings in the silver price, and are down 45% from a year ago.

In February Pandora said it would cut its silver exposure by shifting half its jewellery to platinum-plated.

MORE TARGETED MARKETING

De Pablos-Barbier, previously Pandora's head of marketing, has promised to win new customers, bring in new designs and more efficient advertising. She has said 2026 will be a transition year, while the strategy would deliver higher comparable sales growth in 2027.

Operating profit was 1.487 billion crowns, beating analysts' average forecast of 1.28 billion crowns, thanks in part to lower marketing spending.

"The intention is not to spend less (on marketing), it is to spend better," she said, adding that Pandora plans to keep the same amount of spending on marketing this year.

As the brand builds its lab-grown diamond business, Pandora said it would start labelling its diamond products with their carbon footprint, which the company calculated with external auditors, highlighting their much lower carbon emissions impact compared to diamonds produced by mining.

Pandora sources its lab-grown diamonds from suppliers in the U.S. and India, which use renewable energy.

($1 = 6.3686 Danish crowns)