Signet Jewelers Ltd. said Thursday it had net income of $78.5 million, or $1.03 a share, in its fiscal first quarter to April 29, down from $146.8 million, or $1.87 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell to $1.403 billion from $1.578 billion. Same-store sales fell 11.5%. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.67, sales of $1.469 billion and a same-store sales decline of 8.3%. “As anticipated, we had a very slow start to the year as continued headwinds in the overall retail environment were exacerbated by a slowdown in jewelry spending and company specific challenges,” Chief Executive Mark Light said in a statement. “However, Signet’s Q1 same store sales improved sequentially, when normalized for Mother’s Day, and we were pleased with the holiday’s results. ” The company reaffirmed fiscal 2018 guidance of a same-store sales decline in the low-to-mid single digits, and EPS of $7.00 to $7.40. The company also unveiled plans to outsource its credit portfolio through a phased process, that begins with the sale of $1.0 billion of prime credit quality receivables to Alliance Data Systems Corp. . Shares were flat premarket, but are down 47% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 7$.
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