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Signet Jeweler’s UK division, which owns H Samuel and Ernest Jones, reported a 3.6% increase in same-store sales in the third quarter of its 2016 financial year.
Despite a 3.3% fall in the number of transactions due primarily to lower sales in fashion watches, the 13 weeks ending 29 October were saved by a 6.5% increase in average transactional values.
The higher transactional values were driven by demand for higher-end items such as diamond jewellery and prestige watches.
The higher end UK retailer Ernest Jones saw same-store sales rise 5.7% during the quarter, while the lower end H Samuel reported a same-store sales increase of 1.5%.
Despite the positive UK results, overall same-store sales for the company were down 2% and total sales were down 2.5% to $1.2bn (£968m).
Mark Light, CEO, said: “We expected challenging market conditions to result in a sales decline. However, our continuing ability to execute in a difficult environment led to results that were somewhat better than our expectations.”
