Signet’s sales lose sparkle in the UK

US-headquartered Signet Jewelers reported a 2.9 per cent fall in UK same-store sales in its fourth quarter and said the performance had worsened since the year-end, with sales down 4.6 per cent in the first seven weeks.

The news adds to growing evidence of a marked slowdown in UK consumer spending, with a raft of retailers reporting sales troubles in recent days.

But Signet was able to shrug off weak UK sales to post a 30 per cent rise in pre-tax income to £187m for year to January 29 thanks to better demand across its US operations, where it runs Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers.

The group said it was seeing the gap widen between trading conditions in the UK and US.

It said: “There is stabilisation in the US economy and growth in the US jewellery market.

“The UK economy is being impacted by pressure on discretionary spending due to the Government’s austerity programme and higher consumer inflation at a time of limited growth in personal disposable income.”

Earlier this year, Signet said it hoped its UK business had started to turn the corner after it improved on a 2.4 per cent sales decline in the year to January 2010 with a 0.1 per cent decline in the first seven weeks of its financial year.

But trading declined throughout the year, with fourth quarter figures showing Ernest Jones suffered a 2.9 per cent drop in sales while H Samuel saw a 1.7 per cent fall.