Signet Jewelers holiday sales, full-year shine; company buying back $500 million in stock
Signet Jewelers upped its financial outlook for fiscal 2022 and will increase a stock buyback program by $500 million following strong holiday sales.
The Akron jewelry retailer Thursday morning said its holiday sales for a nine-week period ending Jan. 1 grew by more than 30% from a year ago, with sales at stores open at least a year up by more than 25%.
Signet said preliminary holiday sales were $2.4 billion, up 30.4% from the same period a year ago. E-commerce sales were up $52.1 million, or 17.7%, from a year ago, while brick-and-mortar store sales were up $499.9 million, or 33.6% higher than a year ago.
As a result, Signet said it expects a stronger fiscal 2022 than it previously predicted. Signet brands include Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, H. Samuel, Piercing Pagoda, JamesAllen.com, Diamonds Direct, Rocksbox and others.
"Our team delivered record holiday season sales with revenue growth of more than 30% and same-store sales up over 25%," Virginia C. Drosos, chief executive officer, said in a news release. "We're driving strong traction on our key initiatives including our differentiated banner value propositions and a step change in Connected Commerce capabilities, allowing us to serve customers whenever and wherever they choose to shop with us."
Signet is raising its guidance to reflect the strong holiday performance, said Joan Hilson, chief financial & strategy officer. January sales also remained strong, the company said.
Signet said now expects full-year revenue of $7.78 billion, up from previous guidance of $7.41 billion to $7.49 billion.
Adjusted operating income is expected to be $885 million, up from previous guidance of $777 million to $814 million.
Same-store sales are expected to increase by 48% compared to fiscal 2021, compared to previous guidance of an increase of 41% to 43%.
"Reflecting this strong performance and confidence in our business, today we're announcing a $500 million expansion to the remaining $184 million available under the existing share repurchase program," Hilson said.
Signet intends to enter into a $250 million accelerated share repurchase agreement as part of that, which would leave $434 million remaining under the company's multi-year buyback program, she said.
Beacon Journal reporter Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Holiday sales shine; Signet Jewelers buying back $500 million in stock
