Diamond sales sparkle for Signet

BOOMING diamond sales helped jewellery group Signet push its first-half profits ahead by 18% to £47.5m, with older customers proving the most avid purchasers of precious stones.

Sales for the six months to 3 August were up 8% to £682.3m. While diamonds are popular with all age groups, chief executive Terry Burman said consumers in the expanding 45 to 64 age bracket have been the biggest buyers.

Other strong performers for the group, which owns H Samuel and Ernest Jones, were fashion and luxury watches. Trading was strong on both sides of the Atlantic, though Burman noted a slowdown in the UK in recent weeks, in line with expectations of slower consumer spending.

In the United States, which accounts for almost three-quarters of overall sales, the group has again outperformed its competitors and increased market share, Burman said.

At home, Ernest Jones performed particularly well, with a like-for-like sales increase of 13.3%. The massmarket H Samuel chain pushed underlying sales ahead by 4.2%. The group is planning a television advertising campaign for that chain in the Christmas run-up.

The interim dividend is raised 7% to 0.31p a share.