Signet Revenue Slides Amid Lower-Value Sales

Signet Jewelers’ revenue dropped in the fourth fiscal quarter as it processed a lower number of transactions, and the value of those decreased.

Net sales fell 6% year on year to $2.5 billion in the three months that ended February 3, the US jeweler reported Wednesday. Same-store sales — at branches open for at least year — declined 10%, while net profit came to $626.2 million, compared with $277.3 million the year before. The fourth fiscal quarter comprised 14 weeks, versus 13 weeks for the equivalent period a year ago.

Signet, which owns banners including Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Jared, noted that the number of transactions at stores in North America — its primary market — decreased, while the average price per sale also fell. Technical issues at its James Allen and Blue Nile online banners, which led to fulfillment issues in the latter part of the quarter, also impacted the company. Additionally, the average transaction value in the UK was lower due to the sale of some of the jeweler’s prestige watch locations, Signet explained.

For the full fiscal year, group revenues dropped 9% to $7.17 billion, with same-store sales down 12%. Net profit more than doubled to $810.4 million, compared to $376.7 million the previous year.

Revenue for the fiscal year that began February 4 will likely slip 7% to 2% at $6.66 billion to $7.02 billion, Signet forecast. The prediction is based on the expected persistence of technical problems with its digital banners in the first half of the year, as well as the shutdown of 30 Ernest Jones stores in the UK and approximately $50 million in store closures in North America in fiscal 2024 and 2025.

The company also expects the recovery of engagement rates in the US to be slower than normal, with the number of incidents in the first quarter down by “low- to mid-single digits” compared to the same period a year ago. Total recovery of US engagement rates will take approximately three years, Signet said. The jeweler expects the number of engagements in the US to grow 5% to 10% over last year.

“As we look to fiscal 2025, we are expecting sequential same-store sales improvement over the year as engagements gradually recover,” said Signet CEO Virginia Drosos.

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Main image: A Kay Jewelers store in the Mall of America. (Shutterstock)