Signet Q3 Sales $613.6 Million

Same store sales at Signet's UK chain H. Samuel declined 0.2% in Q3 Photo: Adam Smith

Signet Jewelers Ltd, the world’s largest specialty retail jeweler, reported a 2.5 percent decline in total sales to $613.6 million in the third quarter. Same store sales fell 1.9 percent in the period.

U.S. sales fell 1.7 percent to $459.3 million as same store sales declined 2.4 percent. UK sales of $154.3 million declined 4.8 percent, though same store sales declined just 0.2 percent.

In the first three quarters of the fiscal year, total sales were down 6 percent on a reported basis to $2.09 billion. Same store sales were down 3.4 percent in the 39 week period.

U.S. sales of $1.64 billion declined 2.2 percent compared to the first nine months of 2008. UK sales of $450.4 million fell 17.6 percent.

While U.S. sales represented 78.4 percent of total sales in the first three quarters, in the third quarter alone they generated 74.9 percent of revenues. This reflects the growing sales of the UK units, which were weak earlier in the year.

“The sales performance in the third quarter saw an improvement over that of the second quarter,” said Chief Executive Terry Burman. “Same store sales were broadly consistent throughout the period in both markets.”

According to Burman, Signet is “well prepared” for the Holiday Season, “however, the outlook on both sides of the Atlantic remains very uncertain,” he added.