Bermuda Based Jewelers Post $117 Million Profit
Bermuda domiciled retail giants Signet Jewelers Ltd today [Mar 25] reported a fourth-quarter net income of $117.20 million.
Signet operates almost 1,400 stores across the United States including Kay Jewelers and Jared. They have a further 550 stores in the United Kingdom included H. Samuel and Ernest Jones.
The company holds number one positions in both the U.S. and UK specialty jewelry markets.
The company incorporated in Bermuda in September 2008, and is governed by the laws of Bermuda.
The fourth-quarter net income of $117.20 million or $1.36 per share, compares favorably to a loss of $424.00 million or $4.97 per share in the prior-year period.
Chief Executive Terry Burman said:
We are pleased with our fiscal 2010 results, which were ahead of our January guidance and substantially exceeded our objectives set at the start of the year.
Significant store capacity left the US specialty jewelry marketplace in calendar 2009 and we believe that many of the remaining firms are less able to compete due to financial pressures. Improving store productivity through expanding our competitive advantages in the basic retail disciplines of store operations, supply chain management, marketing and quality of real estate, remains our primary focus on both sides of the Atlantic, and supports our strategy to gain profitable market share and maintain a strong balance sheet.
We believe that our strategy remains especially appropriate in the current uncertain economic environment. Solid execution of this strategy should help us achieve a further profitable market share increase, which would build on our ten year record that has seen our US market share almost double to 9.4% in fiscal 2010.
We have had an encouraging start to fiscal 2011, with same store sales in the first seven weeks up 6.4%, with the US increasing by 7.8% and the UK down by 0.1%.
