HAMILTON, Bermuda, January 14, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Signet Jewelers Limited ("Signet" or the "Company") (NYSE:SIG), the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, today announced its preliminary sales for the ten weeks ended January 11, 2025 ("Holiday") and provided updated guidance for fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
"Our holiday results of approximately -2% SSS reflect peak selling days leading up to Christmas that were below forecast. Engagement and Service sales were within expectations and we saw AUR increase in both Bridal and Fashion. However, fashion gifting underperformed as consumers gravitated to lower price points even more than anticipated in a continued competitive environment. Merchandise assortment gaps at key gifting price points impeded our ability to meet that trend," said Joan Hilson, Chief Financial and Operating Officer. "Merchandise margin expanded, but less than expected due to the lower fashion mix and a stronger customer response to promotional items. These dynamics are reflected in our updated guidance."
"While there were positives in the underlying business performance during Holiday, I believe we have the opportunity to reshape our customer facing strategies in the areas of marketing, product design, and assortment innovation. I see meaningful potential to unlock shareholder value through the strength of both our brand portfolio and financial foundation. We can build on our industry leading position in bridal while dramatically accelerating our reach into the larger fashion categories of self-purchase and gifting to drive sustainable organic growth," said J.K. Symancyk, Chief Executive Officer.
Holiday Fiscal 2025 Sales Highlights
Total SSS(1) decreased approximately 2% to last year
Merchandise Average Unit Retail ("AUR")(2) increased approximately 5% on lower traffic and conversion
(1)
Same store sales ("SSS") include physical stores and eCommerce sales. Holiday SSS has been calculated by aligning the sales weeks of the current period to the equivalent sales weeks in the prior fiscal year period.
(2)
AUR reflects same store sales revenue divided by same store sales units
See description of non-GAAP financial measures below.
Forecasted adjusted operating income and adjusted EBITDA exclude potential non-recurring charges, such as restructuring charges, asset impairments or integration-related costs. However, given the potential impact of non-recurring charges to the GAAP operating income, we cannot provide forecasted GAAP operating income or the probable significance of such items without unreasonable efforts. As such, we do not present a reconciliation of forecasted adjusted operating income or adjusted EBITDA to corresponding forecasted GAAP amounts.
This release contains statements which are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, based upon management's beliefs and expectations as well as on assumptions made by and data currently available to management, appear in a number of places throughout this document and include statements regarding, among other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate. The use of the words "guidance," "expects," "continues," "intends," "enhance," "anticipates," "estimates," "predicts," "believes," "should," "potential," "may," "preliminary," "forecast," "objective," "opportunity," "plan," "strategy," or "target," and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results to not be realized, including, but not limited to: executing major business or strategic initiatives, such as expansion of the services business, realizing the benefits of our restructuring plans or new transformation strategies that the Company may develop in the future; difficulty or delay in executing or integrating an acquisition; the impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on the operations of our quality control and technology centers in Israel; the negative impacts that public health crisis, disease outbreak, epidemic or pandemic has had, and could have in the future, on our business, financial condition, profitability and cash flows, including without limitation risks relating to shifts in consumer spending away from the jewelry category, trends toward more experiential purchases such as travel, the pace at which engagements are expected to recover from the disruption in the dating cycle on engagements caused by COVID-19, and the Company’s ability to capture market share of the bridal category upon the recovery of engagements; general economic or market conditions, including impacts of inflation or other pricing environment factors on our commodity costs (including diamonds) or other operating costs; a prolonged slowdown in the growth of the jewelry market or a recession in the overall economy; financial market risks; a decline in consumer discretionary spending or deterioration in consumer financial position; disruptions in our supply chain; our ability to attract and retain labor; our ability to optimize our transformation strategies; changes to regulations relating to customer credit; disruption in the availability of credit for customers and customer inability to meet credit payment obligations, which has occurred and may continue to deteriorate; our ability to achieve the benefits related to the outsourcing of the credit portfolio, including due to technology disruptions and/or disruptions arising from changes to or termination of the relevant outsourcing agreements, as well as a potential increase in credit costs due to the current interest rate environment; deterioration in the performance of individual businesses or of our market value relative to its book value, resulting in further impairments of long-lived assets or intangible assets or other adverse financial consequences; the volatility of our stock price; the impact of financial covenants, credit ratings or interest volatility on our ability to borrow; our ability to maintain adequate levels of liquidity for our cash needs, including debt obligations, payment of dividends, planned share repurchases (including execution of accelerated share repurchases and the payment of related excise taxes) and capital expenditures as well as the ability of our customers, suppliers and lenders to access sources of liquidity to provide for their own cash needs; potential regulatory changes; future legislative and regulatory requirements in the US and globally relating to climate change, including any new climate related disclosure or compliance requirements, such as those recently issued in the state of California or adopted by the SEC; exchange rate fluctuations; the cost, availability of and demand for diamonds, gold and other precious metals, including any impact on the global market supply of diamonds due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the potential sale or divestiture of the De Beers Diamond Company and its diamond mining operations by parent company Anglo-American plc, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict or related sanctions; stakeholder reactions to disclosure regarding the source and use of certain minerals; scrutiny or detention of goods produced in certain territories resulting from trade restrictions; seasonality of our business; the merchandising, pricing and inventory policies followed by us and our ability to manage inventory levels; our relationships with suppliers including the ability to continue to utilize extended payment terms and the ability to obtain merchandise that customers wish to purchase; the failure to adequately address the impact of existing tariffs and/or the imposition of additional duties, tariffs, taxes and other charges or other barriers to trade or impacts from trade relations; the level of competition and promotional activity in the jewelry sector; our ability to optimize our multi-year strategy to gain market share, expand and improve existing services, innovate and achieve sustainable, long-term growth; the maintenance and continued innovation of our OmniChannel retailing and ability to increase digital sales, as well as management of digital marketing costs; changes in consumer attitudes regarding jewelry and failure to anticipate and keep pace with changing fashion trends; changes in the costs, retail prices, supply and consumer acceptance of, and demand for gem quality lab-created diamonds and adequate identification of the use of substitute products in our jewelry; ability to execute successful marketing programs and manage social media; the ability to optimize our real estate footprint, including operating in attractive trade areas and accounting for changes in consumer traffic in mall locations; the performance of and ability to recruit, train, motivate and retain qualified team members - particularly store associates in regions experiencing low unemployment rates and key executive talent during periods of leadership transition, such as the recent appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer; management of social, ethical and environmental risks; ability to deliver on our environmental, social and governance goals; the reputation of Signet and its banners; inadequacy in and disruptions to internal controls and systems, including related to the migration to new information technology systems which impact financial reporting; risks associated with the Company’s use of artificial intelligence; security breaches and other disruptions to our or our third-party providers’ information technology infrastructure and databases; an adverse development in legal or regulatory proceedings or tax matters, including any new claims or litigation brought by employees, suppliers, consumers or shareholders, regulatory initiatives or investigations, and ongoing compliance with regulations and any consent orders or other legal or regulatory decisions; failure to comply with labor regulations; collective bargaining activity; changes in corporate taxation rates, laws, rules or practices in the US and other jurisdictions in which our subsidiaries are incorporated, including developments related to the tax treatment of companies engaged in internet commerce or deductions associated with payments to foreign related parties that are subject to a low effective tax rate; risks related to international laws and Signet being a Bermuda corporation; risks relating to the outcome of pending litigation; our ability to protect our intellectual property or assets including cash which could be affected by failure of a financial institution or conditions affecting the banking system and financial markets as a whole; changes in assumptions used in making accounting estimates relating to items such as extended service plans; or the impact of weather-related incidents, natural disasters, organized crime or theft, increased security costs, strikes, protests, riots or terrorism, or acts of war (including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts).
For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward looking statement, see the "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" sections of Signet’s Fiscal 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 21, 2024 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and the "Safe Harbor Statements" in current reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. Signet undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to reporting the Company's financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), the Company reports certain financial measures on a non-GAAP basis. The Company believes that non-GAAP financial measures, when reviewed in conjunction with GAAP financial measures, can provide more information to assist investors in evaluating historical trends and current period performance and liquidity. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not superior to or as a substitute for, the GAAP financial measures presented periodically within the Company’s consolidated financial statements and other publicly filed reports. In addition, our non-GAAP financial measures may not be the same as or comparable to similar non-GAAP measures presented by other companies. These non-GAAP measures include adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization ("adjusted EBITDA"), as further described below.
Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP measure defined as operating income excluding the impact of certain items which management believes are not necessarily reflective of normal operational performance during a period. Management finds the information useful when analyzing operating results to appropriately evaluate the performance of the business without the impact of these certain items. Management believes the consideration of measures that exclude such items can assist in the comparison of operational performance in different periods which may or may not include such items.
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure, defined as earnings before interest and income taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, other non-operating expense, net and certain non-GAAP accounting adjustments. Adjusted EBITDA is considered an important indicator of operating performance as it excludes the effects of financing and investing activities by eliminating the effects of interest, depreciation and amortization costs and certain accounting adjustments.
