The CEO of Signet Jewellers, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewellery, has forecasted improved sales performance off the back of the exclusion of Russian diamonds from the US market.
Signet owns more than 2,800 stores globally including Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, Diamonds Direct, Rocksbox, Peoples Jewelers, Ernest Jones, and Sterling Jewelers. The company recently reported a fourth-quarter sales slump of five per cent year-on-year.
Despite the decline, CEO Virginia Drosos says the decision to boycott Russian diamonds is expected to lead to an improvement in jewelry sales.
“We’ve already been working with our partners to create a new way of segregating diamonds,” she said.
“I believe that for the industry here, this will ultimately become a competitive advantage because this is just the beginning of what I believe will be a decades-long move of consumers wanting to understand the origin of their diamonds.”
The company recently set an ambitious goal of up to $US10 billion ($AU15.1 billion) in annual revenue within five years, primarily through a resurgence of bridal jewelry performance.
Signet reported total sales of $US7.8 billion ($AU11.7 billion) at the end of fiscal year 2023.
“We’re very confident in the data that we have that indicated in advance of it happening that engagements would go through a trough period. That trough actually happened this fall,” Drosos said.
“We expect to see engagements begin to pick up in the fourth quarter, and then very strong growth next year and in 2025. We’ll still see some sustained oversized increases in 2026. Then back to normal trends in 2027.”
She added: “In terms of revenue, that’s over a half-billion dollar opportunity for us.”
According to a report from Rapaport NewsSignet brands currently hold a 30 percent share of the US bridal market.
More reading
Sales slump for US diamond jewelery giant
US retail giant raises full-year guidance
Drop in sales for Signet
Signet acquires retail rival for $US360 million
Signet Jewelers continues to exceed sales targets
Signet boycotts Russian diamonds, reveals huge revenue gains in 2022
