Weak Holidays Dampen Signet's Year

RAPAPORT... Sales at Signet Jewelers fell last year as demand tailed off during a disappointing holiday season. Same-store sales - at branches open for a year - slipped0.1% for the fiscal year ending February 2, while total revenue also declined 0.1%to $6.25 billion, the company said Wednesday.Sales at Kay fell 0.4% to $2.42 billion, with Jared declining 4.3% to $1.14billion. Revenue at Zales increased 1.3% to $1.26 billion, and Piercing Pagoda climbed8.7% to $302.5 million. The company reported a loss of $657.4 million, compared witha profit of $519.3 million the previous year. An impairment charge - adevaluation of the company's assets - of $286.7 million, recorded during thefourth quarter, contributed to the loss."We did not finish the year as strongly as expected, due toa highly competitive promotional environment, continued consumer weakness inthe UK, and lower-than-expected customer demand for legacy merchandisecollections that impacted our holiday fourth-quarter results," said Signet CEOVirginia Drosos. Sales fell 6% to $2.15 billion in the fourth quarter, as revenue from Jared declined 10% to $382.2 million. The company also posted a net loss of $107.9 million for the period, versus a profit of $351.3 million the year before.That followed a 3.3% rise in sales to $4.09 billion for the first nine months of the fiscal year.Signet made progress on its Path to Brilliancetransformation plan, a three-year program to restructure and fund growthinitiatives, Drosos noted. In the first year, the company has saved $85 millionand achieved double-digit e-commerce growth. The retailer expects same-store sales to be down 2.5% to flat during the fiscal year that began in February. Total sales will decline to a range of $6 billion to $6.1 billion, it forecast.Image: A Jared store in Oregon. (Aboutmovies)