Rising Revenue and Profits for Signet Jewelers in Fiscal First Quarter

Leading jewelry retailer, Signet Jewelers Ltd, which has chains in the United States and the United Kingdom, posted a sales rise of 10.4 percent to $993.6 million for its fiscal first quarter 2014 which ended on May 4.

Signet's same store sales jumped 6.4 percent, and net operating income surged 10.4 percent higher to $142.8 million.

U.S. sales soared 14.3 percent to $858.6 million while same store sales were 8.1 percent higher.

Signet posted profits of $91.8 million compared with a year-ago profit of $82.5 million.

Its net operating income, including the Ultra store chain acquired last year for $57 million, jumped 11.0 percent to $152.8 million.

Excluding Ultra, operating income in the United States was $156.6 million.

In the United Kingdom, sales were down 9.1 percent to $135.0 million, and same store sales slipped by 2.3 percent.