Signet Group Posts Rise in Christmas Sales

Jewelry retailer Signet reports today (Thursday) that the group's like for like sales increased by 3.7 percent over the Christmas period and gross margins were maintained since the company did not offer the kind of deep discounts many jewelry and other retailers offered to lure customers.

For the 48-week period up to January 1, like for like sales rose 5.1 percent.

Profit before tax for 2004-05 is currently expected to be within the range of £209 million to £215 million, in line with market expectations after taking account of the further weakening of the U.S. dollar during December.

For the year as a whole the devaluation of the U.S. dollar is likely to have adversely impacted profit before tax by some 7 percent, reflecting the movement in the average exchange rate from $1.68 to the British pound in 2003/04 to around $1.86 in 2004-05.

Terry Burman, Group Chief Executive, commented: “Group like for like sales increased by 3.7% over the Christmas period building on the strong growth record of recent years. The group did not participate in the higher level of discounting that was generally evident on both sides of the Atlantic and gross margin was broadly maintained during the period."

Burman said the U.S. business significantly outperformed its main competition, with like for like sales rising by 4.9 percent despite strong challenges and total dollar sales rose 8.3 percent.