Pandora may axe 1,200 jobs from Thailand as the jewelry manufacturer and retailer experienced a fall in sales in Q1.

The 1,200 new job cuts follow 700 layoffs in February, where a plan was announced to cut costs by 1.2 billion crowns(S$245.1 million) by end-2020 and reignite the brand through enhanced marketing efforts. Pandora employs around 14,000 people in Thailand, almost half of its 32,000 global workforces.

The firm will double marketing investments in Italy, the United Kingdom, and China and bring in celebrities and digital media "influencers" in a bid to boost sales.

Alexander Lacik, Chief Executive of Pandora shares, "The brand, as well as the company, has reached a point of maturity and it is not without some serious challenges."

Lacik last month took the helm at Pandora, which sold 280,000 pieces of jewelry per day in 2018 after former CEO Anders Colding Friis was ousted in the previous year in a bid to regain investor trust after several profit warnings.

The world's largest jewelry maker by production capacity said like-for-like sales fell 10 percent in the quarter due to a decline in shopper numbers at its stores as economic growth in key markets like Italy, Britain and Australia slows. Like-for-like sales compare sales in stores that have been open a year or more.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) fell 12 percent to 1.5 billion Danish crowns but topped the 1.3 billion expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

According to JP Morgan analysts, the earnings were slightly better than foreseen. Pandora shares increased by 2.5 percent in early trading to 276 crowns, still far from its 2016 peak of 1,000 crowns.