Nothing shone for Signet over Christmas

H SAMUEL owner Signet revealed UK sales had plunged in the run-up to Christmas as the downturn in consumer spending hit jewellery sales.

Signet, which also trades as Ernest Jones and Leslie Davis from 561 UK stores, said it would not pay a dividend, despite maintaining the current year profit forecast.

The firm said UK-wide like-for-like sales fell 10.9 per cent in the nine weeks to 3 January, leaving the figure 3.5 per cent lower for the first 48 weeks of the financial year.

Across the group's total businesses – covering the UK and US – performance was "very disappointing", with like-for-like sales down 15.2 per cent over the nine-week period. This compares with an 8.1 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for the 48 weeks.

In the UK, which accounts for a quarter of sales, the H Samuel chain outperformed the more upmarket Ernest Jones. H Samuel sales were down 9.2 per cent in the latest nine weeks, while Ernest Jones saw a fall of 13.2 per cent.

The company said it still expected to produce profits in line with market expectations after cost controls buffered margins. It expects pre-tax profits of between $180 million (118m) and $195m for the full year.