Jeweler Birks & Mayors reports sales, earnings slide

Montreal As further evidence of the hit jewelry retailers are taking during the downturn, Birks & Mayors reported late Monday that its fourth-quarter and fiscal year-end results were down from the year-ago periods.

The company, which operates 69 luxury jewelry stores across Canada, Florida and Georgia, recorded a net loss of $61 million for the year, compared with net income of $10.4 million in the prior-year period.

Other year-end results included a net sales decrease of 13.9% to $270.9 million and a 14% drop in comp-store sales.

In the fourth quarter, the retailer recorded a net loss of $14.4 million, compared with net income of $3.2 million. Net sales decreased 23.3% to $49.2 million from the prior-year period, and comp-store sales decreased 16% compared with the prior-year period.

Tom Andruskevich, president and CEO, said: “Our fiscal year performance was severely impacted by the economic downturn, banking crisis and significant drop in consumer confidence. As consumer confidence declined, we experienced declines in store traffic and average retail sales which resulted in lower sales.”

He added that while the company initiated cost reductions, it was not able to fully offset the significant declines in sales and margin during the holiday selling season, which negatively impacted profitability.

Birks & Mayors operates 37 stores (Birks Brand) across most major metropolitan markets in Canada and 30 stores (Mayors Brand) across Florida and Georgia, as well as two retail locations in Calgary and Vancouver under the Brinkhaus brand.