Signet achieves some sparkle with Street-beating Q1 earnings, revenue
Signet Jewelers Ltd. saw earnings and sales fall in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, but surpass Wall Street projections.
The parent company of specialty jewelry brands including Zales, Kay, and Piercing Pagoda reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.08. While this result was down 20% from EPS of $0.10 the prior year period, it was much better than the loss of $0.24 per share analysts had predicted.
Total revenue of $1.43 billion declined 3% year-over-year from $1.48 billion, more modestly beating analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Total same-store sales fell 1.3%. North American same-store sales fell 0.9%. E-commerce sales rose 5.3%, accounting for 10.8% of all sales in the quarter.
By brand, same-store sales increased 13.5% at Piercing Pagoda and fell 1.4% at Zales. Kay’s same-store sales also decreased 1.4%, and Jared sales decreased 2%. James Allen sales declined 2.4%.
Looking ahead, Signet is continuing with a previously announced plan to shutter 150 stores and open 20-25 new stores by the end of fiscal 2020. During the second quarter, Signet expects same-store sales to fall 2.5%-3.5%, and total sales of $1.35 billion - $1.37 billion. For the full fiscal year, the jewelry conglomerate expects same-store sales to decline 1.5%-2.5% and total sales of $6 billion - $6.06 billion.
“We delivered operating profit above our guidance range and strong free cash flow in the first quarter, with same-store sales at the low end of our guidance,” said Signet CEO Virginia C. Drosos. “Given the sales trends we experienced year to date and softening retail traffic, we are narrowing our fiscal 2020 guidance while continuing to expect strong progress on cost savings across our business. We remain focused on executing our Path to Brilliance transformation initiatives to improve the trajectory of our same-store sales and drive higher profitability over the long-term.”
The parent company of specialty jewelry brands including Zales, Kay, and Piercing Pagoda reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.08. While this result was down 20% from EPS of $0.10 the prior year period, it was much better than the loss of $0.24 per share analysts had predicted.
Total revenue of $1.43 billion declined 3% year-over-year from $1.48 billion, more modestly beating analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Total same-store sales fell 1.3%. North American same-store sales fell 0.9%. E-commerce sales rose 5.3%, accounting for 10.8% of all sales in the quarter.
By brand, same-store sales increased 13.5% at Piercing Pagoda and fell 1.4% at Zales. Kay’s same-store sales also decreased 1.4%, and Jared sales decreased 2%. James Allen sales declined 2.4%.
Looking ahead, Signet is continuing with a previously announced plan to shutter 150 stores and open 20-25 new stores by the end of fiscal 2020. During the second quarter, Signet expects same-store sales to fall 2.5%-3.5%, and total sales of $1.35 billion - $1.37 billion. For the full fiscal year, the jewelry conglomerate expects same-store sales to decline 1.5%-2.5% and total sales of $6 billion - $6.06 billion.
“We delivered operating profit above our guidance range and strong free cash flow in the first quarter, with same-store sales at the low end of our guidance,” said Signet CEO Virginia C. Drosos. “Given the sales trends we experienced year to date and softening retail traffic, we are narrowing our fiscal 2020 guidance while continuing to expect strong progress on cost savings across our business. We remain focused on executing our Path to Brilliance transformation initiatives to improve the trajectory of our same-store sales and drive higher profitability over the long-term.”