Company’s US division remains strong compared to UK sales.
Signet Group has announced its results for the 13 weeks ended July 31 for Q2, with same store sales up 9.9% and total sales reaching $797.6 million (£488.5 million).
Income before income taxes reached $99.8 million (£61 million), up $45.1 million or 82.4% while Signet has enjoyed increased free cash flow guidance to $175 million to $225 million (£138 million).
The UK division’s sales totalled about 20% of annual sales in Q2, with UK sales totalling $154.6 million (£94.6 million), up by $12.6 million (£7.8 million) or 8.8%. However, with a focus on constant exchange rates, sales only rose by 0.1% and same store sales increased by only 1.4% which though small, is a upward trend compared to a decline of 0.5% in the Q2 in last year.
H. Samuel total sales reached $81.4 million (£49 million), with Ernest Jones sales reaching $73.2 million (£44 million) in Q2. Interestingly, no results were released for Leslie Davies. Average spend in store was £62 for H Samuel and £276 for Ernest Jones, with same-store sales up 3.3% at H Samuel and 0.7% at Ernest Jones.
For the 26 weeks to Juy 31 (H1), total UK sales for Signet were down 0.6% at constant exchange rates and total same-store sales increased by 0.8%, compared to a decline of 0.4% in the 26 weeks ended July 31 2010. The figures show that the UK arm of Signet is still struggling after results released earlier this year showed a similar slowing in trade. A combined 10 stores were closed in H1, bringing Signet’s UK total of stores to 535.
US operations have remained relatively stable for Signet, with store sales up 12.2% in Q2, attributing to 80% of Signet’s overall sales. The US division’s sales totalled $643 million (£393 million), up by $65.3 million or 11.3% on last year’s Q2 results. Same store sales increased by 12.2% compared to a rise of 6.0% in Q2 last year.
Mike Barnes, CEO of Signet said: “During the quarter, our branded jewellery initiatives drove strong US same store sales performance and assisted our UK division’s sales to outperform a challenging retail marketplace. I would like to thank all team members at Signet who contributed to this great performance.”
