The jewellery chain announced a 4.7 per cent increase in sales for the 45 weeks to 12 May. An 11 per cent decline in revenue in New Zealand was offset by a 12 per cent improvement in Australia.
The increase in Australia was attributed to the acquisition of Bevilles in the past year and the launch of luxury brand TenSevenSeven in October.
CEO Daniel Bracken said that cost-of-living pressures continue to impact consumer spending negatively.
“There is no doubt that consumer discretionary spending, and the fine jewellery category in particular, remain under pressure due to macroeconomic forces,” he said.
“Higher interest rates are leading to a sustained and prolonged decline in consumer spending. Looking forward, as interest rates moderate, we anticipate sales and margin recovery.”
The chain also operates more than 80 stores in Canada. Sales declined 0.4 per cent, remaining close to neutral.
Despite the contradictory sales results, Bracken indicated that an ‘engagement boom’ is expected and suggested he remains optimistic about the future.
“So, we have a reliance on those relationships happening and at some point one year, two years or three years after the couple meet, they want to get married and get engaged, and we definitely have seen what we are calling an engagement gap,” he said.
“And we are confident, and we have looked at a lot of data about how long it normally takes for a first date to engagement, and we believe that we are going to start to see an upsurge in 2025.”
These predictions aligned with similar forecasts made by Signet Jewelers, the largest retailer of diamond jewellery in the US.
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