H Samuel and Ernest Jones owner cuts loss despite £40m sales hit
The company behind high street jewellers H Samuel and Ernest Jones significantly cut its loss despite sales falling by almost £40m during its latest financial year.
The Birmingham-headquartered business has reported a pre-tax loss of £483,000 for the year to 3 February, 2024, down from the £8.9m loss it posted in its prior 12 months.
Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that its turnover declined from £384.1m to £344.6m over the same period.
H Samuel and Ernest Jones are owned by Signet Jewelers which is domiciled in Bermuda and headquartered in the US. The group is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
As well as H Samuel and Ernest Jones, Signet Jewelers owns the likes of Blue Nile, Zales, Kay Jewelers, Jared and JamesAllen.com.
H Samuel was founded in 1862 in Liverpool while Ernest Jones can trace its roots back to 1949 in London.
During the year the average number of people employed by the company behind H Samuel and Ernest Jones fell from 2,186 to 2,043.
Cost of living hits H Samuel and Ernest Jones sales
A statement signed off by the board said: “Sales were impacted by the rising cost of living in the UK which is expected to continue in the medium term.
“The company’s strategy remains to grow the business through continued investment in its stores and website and driving its strategic imperatives.
“During the year, the company made the decision to focus on the core strategy of selling diamonds, jewellery and watches and in October 2023 entered into an agreement to sell the operations and certain assets of its prestige watch business. The sale was substantially completed in the fourth quarter.
“Despite the reduction in sales, in line with expectations the resulting underlying group operating loss, excluding the exceptional profit on the sale of the previously mentioned prestige watch operations, was broadly in line with the prior year at £8.6m, reflecting tight control of overheads and strategic initiatives.”
The results come after profit at Beaverbrooks, a competitor to H Samuel and Ernest Jones, was slashed despite it reporting another year of record sales.
The family-owned retailer posted an operating profit of £10.5m for the year to the end of February 2024, down from the £25.7m it achieved in the prior 12 months.
The Lytham St Annes-headquartered company added that its turnover increased from its previous record of £225m to £228.6m.