Signet Jewelers Ltd.(NYSE:SIG) saw its shares take a beating in premarket trade after its holiday sales numbers fell from a year ago.
The diamond jewelry retailer revealed that total sales for the nine weeks ending December 30 fell by 3.1% to US$1.88bn from US$1.94bn a year ago.
READ: Signet Jewelers issues profit warning after third quarter loss
During the same period, same-store sales also fell, more sharply by 5.3%, against 4.6% the previous year.
The company blamed the credit outsourcing transition for the poor sales performance.
Signet said in a statement that its e-commerce business grew by a "double-digit" percentage, while Zales Jewelers saw same-store sales rise by 4.6%.
It reiterated its fiscal 2018 same-store sales outlook of down mid single-digit percentage range, but raised its earnings-per-share outlook to US$6.45 to US$6.50 from US$6.10 to US$6.50, to reflect an expected lower tax rate after the tax reform legislation.
The company anticipates the reduction in the US corporate tax rate to result in an effective tax rate in the range of 14% to 15% for the current fiscal year.
Virginia C. Drosos, chief executive officer said: “We are resolutely focused on addressing credit transition issues in our Sterling division to return to growth there as well.”
In premarket trade, its shares were down 8.32% at US$51.88