Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) 2004 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to today's Signet Group Q3 results conference call. For your information today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to your host today, Mr. Terry Burman. Please go ahead, sir.

女士們先生們下午好，歡迎參加今天的 Signet Group 第三季度業績電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中，供您參考。現在，我想把電話轉給今天的東道主特里·伯曼先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and welcome to the conference call on Signet's third quarter results. I'm Terry Burman, Group Chief Executive. I'm speaking from Akron, Ohio.

謝謝，歡迎參加有關 Signet 第三季度業績的電話會議。我是集團首席執行官 Terry Burman。我是從俄亥俄州阿克倫市發話的。

Joining me on the call from London are Walker Boyd, Group Finance Director, and Tim Jackson, Investor Relations Director. Walker will discuss the financials and then I'll cover the U.S. and U.K. operations. Following that, we will then open the call for questions. Before we begin, Tim will give the Safe Harbor and Regulation G statements.

從倫敦與我一起參加電話會議的還有集團財務總監沃克·博伊德 (Walker Boyd) 和投資者關係總監蒂姆·傑克遜 (Tim Jackson)。沃克將討論財務狀況，然後我將介紹美國和英國的業務。之後，我們將開始提問。在我們開始之前，Tim 將給出安全港和 G 條例聲明。

This call includes certain statements which are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon management's belief as well as on assumptions made by and date currently available to management and appear in a number of places throughout this call.

本次電話會議包括某些 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於管理層的信念以及管理層目前可獲得的截至日期的假設，並出現在許多報告中。貫穿本次通話的各個地方。

They include statements regarding among other things our results of operations, financial conditions, liquidity prospect, growth strategies, and the industry in which the Company operates.

其中包括有關我們的經營業績、財務狀況、流動性前景、增長戰略以及公司所在行業的聲明。

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in the Company's earnings release dated 23rd of November, 2004 and in the "Risk and Other Factors" section of the Company's 2003 '04 annual report on Form 20F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 22, 2004 and other filings made by the Company with the Commission.

這些前瞻性陳述不是對未來業績的保證，並受到許多風險和不確定因素的影響，這些風險和不確定因素在公司2004 年11 月23 日的收益報告和公司公告的“風險和其他因素”部分中有更全面的描述。 2004 年 4 月 22 日向美國證券交易委員會提交的 2003 年 4 月 20F 表格年度報告以及公司向委員會提交的其他文件。

Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein may not be realized. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

實際結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述中的預期存在重大差異，即使經驗或未來的變化明確表明其中明示或暗示的任何預測結果可能無法實現。公司不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述以反映後續事件或情況的義務。

Additionally, certain financial information used during the call are considered to be non-GAAP financial measures. For a reconciliation of these to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please refer to the Company's earnings release dated 23rd of November, 2004 available on the "Financial Information" section of the Company's Web site at www.signetgroupplc.com. Thank you.

此外，電話會議期間使用的某些財務信息被視為非 GAAP 財務指標。有關這些數據與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標的調節，請參閱公司 2004 年 11 月 23 日發布的收益報告，該報告可在公司網站 www.signetgroupplc.com 的“財務信息”部分獲取。謝謝。

Thanks, Tim. Before handing over to Walker, I'd just like to make some brief comments on the Group's performance.

謝謝，蒂姆。在交給沃克之前，我想對集團的表現做一些簡短的評論。

Again, the movement in the dollar sterling exchange rates means that the extent of the Group's progress is not reflected in the reported results. On a constant exchange rate basis, sales were up 6.1%, and profit before tax by 12% in the quarter.

同樣，美元兌英鎊匯率的變動意味著該集團的進展程度並未反映在報告的業績中。按固定匯率計算，本季度銷售額增長 6.1%，稅前利潤增長 12%。

Through the first nine months in the U.S., we have continued to outperform the main competition and gain market share. The strong like for like sales performance, together with tight control of costs and gross margins, has driven operating margins. However, like for like sales growth has been slowing, reflecting the increasingly tough comparatives from last year.

在美國的前九個月，我們繼續超越主要競爭對手並贏得市場份額。強勁的銷售業績，加上對成本和毛利率的嚴格控制，推動了營業利潤率的提高。然而，同類銷售增長一直在放緩，反映出與去年相比日益嚴峻的情況。

On a two-year like for like basis, the first three quarters have been much more consistent. In the U.K., the like for like sales performance has been slowing after four years of very strong growth.

按照兩年的同類數據計算，前三個季度的情況更加穩定。在英國，經過四年的強勁增長後，同類銷售業績已經放緩。

This reflects the wider trading environment with increased interest rates, higher fuel prices, concerns over debt levels, and pension funding, all negatively impacting consumer confidence. Against this, employment levels remain exceptionally strong, providing some underpinning to confidence.

這反映了更廣泛的貿易環境，包括利率上升、燃料價格上漲、對債務水平和養老金資金的擔憂，所有這些都對消費者信心產生了負面影響。與此相反，就業水平仍然異常強勁，為信心提供了一些支撐。

On both sides of the Atlantic, we have again, achieved a range of improvements in all the critical areas of retailing, in line with our culture of continuous improvement and excellence in execution. As a result, we are well-positioned for challenges ahead.

在大西洋兩岸，我們再次在零售業的所有關鍵領域實現了一系列改進，這符合我們持續改進和卓越執行的文化。因此，我們已做好充分準備應對未來的挑戰。

And now Walker, will you now please comment on the figures in detail?

現在沃克，您現在能詳細評論一下這些數字嗎？

Thank you, Terry.

謝謝你，特里。

Looking firstly at the quarter. Group sales for the quarter increased 6.1% to constant exchange rates, and were flat on the reported basis. Like for like sales were up by 2.8%.

首先看季度。按固定匯率計算，本季度集團銷售額增長 6.1%，與報告基礎上持平。同類銷售額增長了 2.8%。

Remember the third quarter is the slowest of the year, normally accounting for only about 18% of annual sales.

請記住，第三季度是一年中最慢的季度，通常僅佔全年銷售額的 18% 左右。

Group operating profit was 8.7% ahead of last year at constant exchange rates, and 3.7% up on a reported basis at 11.3 million pounds versus 10.9 million. Net interest payable of 2.9 million was slightly down on the third quarter last year, resulting in Group pretax profits of 8.4 million, up from 7.7 million last year.

按固定匯率計算，集團營業利潤比去年增長 8.7%，報告基礎上增長 3.7%，達到 1,130 萬英鎊，而去年同期為 1,090 萬英鎊。應付利息淨額為290萬歐元，較去年第三季度略有下降，導致集團稅前利潤為840萬歐元，高於去年的770萬歐元。

Other [notes] in the interim results, the Group has changed its accounting policy in respect to extend its service agreements in the U.S. This followed as a amendment to FRS 5, the reporting of substance of transactions in the form of Application Note G revenue recognition.

其他[注]在中期業績中，集團更改了有關在美國延長服務協議的會計政策。這是對FRS 5的修訂，以應用說明G收入確認的形式報告交易的實質內容。

The Group now spreads the revenue arising from the sale of such agreements over the anticipated period of claims. Previously, the Group recognized the revenue from such [inaudible] at the date of sales with provision being made for the estimated cost of future claims arising.

本集團現將銷售此類協議所產生的收入分攤至預計索賠期間。此前，集團在銷售日期確認了此類[聽不清]收入，並為未來索賠的估計成本計提了撥備。

As a result of this change, the Group has restated prior years, with the restatement for the 13 weeks the first November, 2003, resulting in an increase of 2.6 million pounds in profit before tax.

由於這一變化，集團重述了以前的年度，重述了 2003 年 11 月第一天的 13 週，導致稅前利潤增加了 260 萬英鎊。

The third quarter tax rate of 34.5% is as anticipated and slightly lower than last year.

第三季度稅率為34.5%，符合預期，略低於去年。

If I can now turn briefly to the figures for the nine months.

現在我可以簡單地回顧一下這九個月的數據。

Total sales were up 8.9% at constant exchange rates, and marginally ahead on a reported basis. Group like for like sales were up 6%, with the U.K. growing by 4.2%, and the U.S. by 6.8%.

按固定匯率計算，總銷售額增長 8.9%，略高於報告數據。集團同類銷售額增長 6%，其中英國增長 4.2%，美國增長 6.8%。

Group operating profit for the nine months is up 20.3% at constant exchange rates, and was 8.5% ahead on a reported basis at 69.9 million pounds. The Group operating margin improved 7.3% against 6.7% in the comparable period last year.

按固定匯率計算，集團前 9 個月營業利潤增長 20.3%，按報告數據計算，增長 8.5%，達到 6,990 萬英鎊。集團營業利潤率較去年同期的 6.7% 提高 7.3%。

Net interest payable was 7.6 million pounds, down 1.7 million reflecting lower average net debt levels, and favorable exchange rate movements. Group profit before tax was up 24.8% at constant exchange rates, and 13.1% on a reported basis to 62.3 million pounds for the nine months.

應付淨利息為 760 萬英鎊，減少 170 萬英鎊，反映出平均淨債務水平較低以及有利的匯率變動。按固定匯率計算，集團稅前利潤增長 24.8%，按報告計算，前 9 個月增長 13.1%，達到 6230 萬英鎊。

The restatement to the prior year 39-weeks resulted in an increase of 2.2 million in pretax profits. Basic earnings per share rose 14.3% to 2.14, equivalent to 42.9 cents per ADR.

對上年 39 週的重述導致稅前利潤增加 220 萬歐元。每股基本收益增長 14.3% 至 2.14，相當於每股 ADR 42.9 美分。

Looking at the balance sheet, net debt at the end of the quarter was 192.6 million pounds, an increase of 5 million from the corresponding figure last year. The seasonal increase in net debt to nine months was higher than the prior year, primarily as a result of increased capital expenditure and dividends, amounting to 24 million pounds in total, and timing differences on merchandise payments amounting to 20 million pounds.

從資產負債表來看，季末淨債務為1.926億英鎊，比去年同期增加了500萬英鎊。淨債務季節性增長至九個月，高於上一年，主要是由於資本支出和股息增加，總計達 2,400 萬英鎊，以及商品付款的時間差異達 2,000 萬英鎊。

With regard to capital expense, we expect Group expenditure to be between 75 and 80 million pounds for the full year, up from 50 million last year, and we remain on track to be broadly cash flow neutral for the year.

在資本支出方面，我們預計全年集團支出將在 75 至 8000 萬英鎊之間，高於去年的 5000 萬英鎊，並且我們仍有望實現今年現金流大致中性。

I'll now hand you back to Terry.

我現在把你交還給特里。

Thanks, Walker. Now I'll review the Group's operations beginning with the U.S.

謝謝，沃克。現在我將從美國開始回顧該集團的業務。

In the quarter, total sales increased by 8.3% at constant exchange rates, and were broadly similar to last year on a reported basis at $193.8 million pounds. Our proven strategy of concentrating on continually improving our execution of the retail basics in terms of merchandising, marketing, real estate, and most importantly in the jewelry sector, staff training and customer service, again, proved successful.

按固定匯率計算，本季度總銷售額增長 8.3%，與去年報告的銷售額基本相似，為 1.938 億英鎊。我們的行之有效的戰略是專注於不斷改進零售基礎知識的執行，包括銷售、營銷、房地產，最重要的是在珠寶行業、員工培訓和客戶服務方面，再次證明是成功的。

Our like for like sales were up by 3.5%, significantly ahead of our quoted competition, and represented a further gain in market share. Including the impact of the hurricanes in the period, we estimate that like for like sales would have been up by 4%.

我們的同類銷售額增長了 3.5%，明顯領先於我們的報價競爭對手，並代表著市場份額的進一步增長。考慮到這一時期颶風的影響，我們估計同類銷售額將增長 4%。

After a poor August, there was a strengthening trend, evident during September and October. The mall stores account for a significant proportion of sales in the like for like calculations, and their performance has driven our superior sales per mall store which is central to our industry-leading operating margins.

在經歷了糟糕的八月之後，出現了強勁的趨勢，九月和十月很明顯。對於類似的計算，購物中心商店在同類銷售額中佔很大比例，它們的業績推動了我們每家購物中心商店的卓越銷售額，這是我們行業領先的營業利潤的核心。

Kays consistent outperformance of its main competitors over the long-term is reflected in the brand now being the largest specialty jewelery retailer by sales which were. I'm sorry, $1,117.2 billion in the first 12 months to 31 July, 2004.

Kays 長期以來一直優於其主要競爭對手，這反映在該品牌目前已成為銷售額最大的專業珠寶零售商。抱歉，截至 2004 年 7 月 31 日的前 12 個月為 11,172 億美元。

U.S. Q3 operating profit rose to 9.2 million pounds, and reflects a 17.9% increase in constant currency terms. As a reminder this is a low quarter in terms of sales only accounting for 16 to 17% of the annual U.S. total, reflecting a lack of any major events and a low level of marketing activity.

美國第三季度營業利潤升至 920 萬英鎊，按固定匯率計算增長 17.9%。需要提醒的是，就銷售額而言，這是一個低季度，僅占美國年度銷售額的 16% 至 17%，反映出缺乏任何重大活動且營銷活動水平較低。

In the year-to-date U.S. like for like sales were up 6.8%, and total U.S. sales increased by 11.7% at constant exchange rates.

今年迄今為止，美國同類銷售額增長了 6.8%，按固定匯率計算，美國總銷售額增長了 11.7%。

So far this year, Jared has performed very well, and those stores opened in 2000 through 2002 have been closing the small gap on their investment pro forma sales projections.

今年到目前為止，Jared 的表現非常出色，那些 2000 年至 2002 年開設的商店已經縮小了其投資預計銷售預測的小差距。

The average transaction value continued to increase and is up about 11% in the year-to-date. This is due to the growth of Jared, price increases, and changes in merchandising mix, where we have been successfully selling higher-priced items.

平均交易額持續增長，今年迄今增長約 11%。這是由於賈里德的成長、價格上漲以及商品組合的變化，我們一直在成功銷售高價商品。

U.S. operating profit for the nine months was 63.9 million pounds, an increase of 26.5% at constant exchange rates, and up by 12.5% on a reported basis. The operating margin for the nine months was 9.6%, versus 8.5% last year, reflecting the leverage of strong like for like sales, combined with the continued tight control of costs and gross margins.

美國前 9 個月營業利潤為 6390 萬英鎊，按固定匯率計算增長 26.5%，按報告數據增長 12.5%。前九個月的營業利潤率為 9.6%，而去年為 8.5%，反映了強勁的同類銷售槓桿作用，以及對成本和毛利率的持續嚴格控制。

Merchandise margins were similar to last year for both the year-to-date and the third quarter.

今年迄今和第三季度的商品利潤率與去年相似。

Selective price increases, supply chain improvements, and other management initiatives have offset the adverse impact of the increase in the cost of commodities and expected sales mix changes. As already flagged, the gross margin for the year is anticipated to be slightly lower than last year in the U.S.

選擇性提價、供應鏈改善和其他管理舉措抵消了商品成本增加和預期銷售結構變化的不利影響。正如已經指出的那樣，美國今年的毛利率預計將略低於去年。

The credit portfolio performance remains consistent. Bad debt charge for the nine months was in line with last year at 3% of total U.S. sales, and remained at the low end of the range of results over the last nine years.

信貸組合表現保持一致。這 9 個月的壞賬費用與去年持平，占美國總銷售額的 3%，並保持在過去 9 年來業績範圍的低端。

The level of e credit participation for the year-to-date was broadly equal to last year.

今年迄今為止的電子信貸參與水平與去年基本持平。

As with all the areas of our business, we continue to invest in staff, training, and systems, to improve execution in our credit operations. For example, we have improved data accessibility for our collectors, enhanced productivity through workflow automation, and expanded our ability to test alternative authorization strategies.

與我們業務的所有領域一樣，我們繼續投資於員工、培訓和系統，以提高信貸業務的執行力。例如，我們提高了收集者的數據可訪問性，通過工作流程自動化提高了生產力，並擴展了測試替代授權策略的能力。

Our mall store real estate investment in 56 new stores, and 79 refurbishments and relocations, is substantially completed. We have continued with the development of the Kay off mall format with the first further ten stores opening this year. Expect to continue this development in 2005.

56家新店以及79家翻新和搬遷的商場店面房地產投資已基本完成。我們繼續發展 Kay 商場外業態，今年又開設了前十家商店。預計 2005 年將繼續這種發展。

14 Jared store will be opened this year. Two planned for this year will now open in 2005 due to building delays.

14 Jared店將於今年開業。由於建設延誤，原計劃今年開放的兩處現已於 2005 年開放。

This increases the number of Jared stores by 18% and at the year end, the total will be 93 stores. This is equivalent in terms of space to about 400 mall stores.

這使得 Jared 門店數量增加了 18%，到年底門店總數將達到 93 家。這相當於約 400 家商場商店的空間。

This holiday season, Kay TV impressions are planned to be up by about 10% despite a further noticeable increase in cost of air time. Kay's superior sales growth means it is in a better position to be able to increase impressions and reinforce its industry-leading position.

儘管播出時間成本進一步顯著增加，但今年假期期間，Kay TV 的展示次數仍計劃增加約 10%。 Kay 出色的銷售增長意味著它能夠更好地增加印象並鞏固其行業領先地位。

For the first time, the TV campaign will be supported by national radio advertising this holiday season. Local radio advertising impressions for the regional brands have been maintained.

今年假期，電視活動將首次得到全國廣播廣告的支持。地區品牌在當地電台的廣告印象得以維持。

The level of local television advertising support for Jared TV during Christmas is again being increased, and will cover markets accounting for over 90% of its sales, compared to about 75% last year. Overall marketing spend for the year as a proportion of sales is expected to be slightly up on last year.

聖誕節期間對 Jared TV 的當地電視廣告支持水平再次提高，覆蓋的市場佔其銷售額的 90% 以上，而去年這一比例約為 75%。今年整體營銷支出佔銷售額的比例預計將比去年略有上升。

We continue to keep the inventory under tight control and have broadly maintained it as a proportion of sales. This Christmas, we will once again provide our stores with next-day replenishment at the key times during the holiday season.

我們繼續嚴格控制庫存，並基本維持其占銷售額的比例。今年聖誕節，我們將再次在節日期間的關鍵時刻為門店提供次日補貨。

Central to communicating our value and superior product quality to customers, is our well-trained salesforce. This year as we highlighted at the interim results, we have focused on improving our diamond presentation.

向客戶傳達我們的價值和卓越產品質量的核心是我們訓練有素的銷售隊伍。今年，正如我們在中期業績中強調的那樣，我們專注於改善我們的鑽石展示。

We now have at least one qualified diamondologist in every store. We are featuring this in our catalogs and print advertising to help provide confidence to the customer in the quality of product and service and to help differentiate ourselves in the mall.

現在，我們每家商店都至少有一名合格的鑽石學家。我們在目錄和印刷廣告中體現了這一點，以幫助增強客戶對產品和服務質量的信心，並幫助我們在商場中脫穎而出。

This initiative to reduce the time spent on administration in the stores continues, and has again increased the resources available for customer service and lifted service levels in repairs and special orders. Overall, the quality of our staff has once again improved and morale is high.

這項減少商店管理時間的舉措仍在繼續，並再次增加了可用於客戶服務的資源，並提高了維修和特殊訂單的服務水平。總體來看，我們員工素質再次提高，士氣高漲。

We have a number of merchandising initiatives in place for this Christmas. For example, the Leo range has been expanded with new sizes, cuts and jewelry designs.

我們為今年的聖誕節推出了多項促銷活動。例如，Leo 系列已通過新的尺寸、剪裁和珠寶設計進行了擴展。

We have also expanded the range of larger solitaire diamonds. Both these programs further increase our ability to lift the average transaction price.

我們還擴大了較大單顆鑽石的範圍。這兩個計劃都進一步提高了我們提高平均交易價格的能力。

We have also enhanced our range of right-hand diamond rings, a program De Beers is supporting through its advertising, and fashion gold assortments in association with the World Gold Council.

我們還增強了右手鑽戒系列（戴比爾斯通過其廣告支持這一計劃），並與世界黃金協會合作推出了時尚黃金品種。

In response to customer demand, we have introduced the Leo Artisan range to all Jared stores for this Christmas. The Leo Artisan diamonds are of a higher quality and brilliance providing another opportunity to lift average transaction values.

為了滿足客戶的需求，我們在今年聖誕節向所有 Jared 商店推出了 Leo Artisan 系列。 Leo Artisan 鑽石具有更高的質量和亮度，為提高平均交易價值提供了另一個機會。

The selection of luxury watch brand stocks such as Rolex, Omega and Tag Heuer continues to be developed which helps to differentiate Jared in the marketplace.

勞力士 (Rolex)、歐米茄 (Omega) 和泰格豪雅 (Tag Heuer) 等豪華手錶品牌股票的選擇不斷發展，這有助於 Jared 在市場上脫穎而出。

In summary, the U.S. business has cost margins, inventory, and receivables under tight control. In line with our culture of continuous improvement, we have taken steps to ensure that we are able to execute this Christmas better than last year in the key retailing disciplines. We are well positioned to compete this holiday season.

綜上所述，美國業務的成本利潤、庫存和應收賬款均受到嚴格控制。根據我們持續改進的文化，我們已採取措施，確保今年聖誕節在關鍵零售領域的表現比去年更好。我們已經做好了在這個假期競爭的準備。

Turning now to the U. K.

現在轉向英國

Like for like sales were up 1.6% for the quarter, with total sales increasing by 1.9% to 98.3 million pounds. The softening trend in the trading environment continued during the third quarter. The upper sector of the mass market being most affected, resulting in a narrowing of the performance gap between Ernest Jones and H.Samuel as the year has progressed.

本季度同類銷售額增長 1.6%，總銷售額增長 1.9%，達到 9830 萬英鎊。第三季度貿易環境持續疲軟。大眾市場的上層部門受到的影響最大，導致歐內斯特·瓊斯和 H.塞繆爾之間的業績差距隨著時間的推移而縮小。

Reflecting increased investment in the business, for example, store remodeling and training, operating profits showed a decrease to 3.8 million pounds, from 4.1 million in the quarter. Operating margin decreased at 3.9% from 4.2%.

由於商店改造和培訓等業務投資增加，營業利潤從本季度的 410 萬英鎊下降至 380 萬英鎊。營業利潤率從 4.2% 下降至 3.9%。

For the year-to-date, U.K. like for like sales rose by 4.2%, and total sales by 3.3%, to 298.6 million pounds.

今年迄今為止，英國同類銷售額增長了 4.2%，總銷售額增長了 3.3%，達到 2.986 億英鎊。

Operating profit increased by 600,000 pounds to 12.5 million pounds, before the one-off restructuring charge of 1.7 million pounds taken in the second quarter. Underlying operating margin improved slightly to 4.2% from 4.1%.

扣除第二季度一次性重組費用 170 萬英鎊後，營業利潤增加 60 萬英鎊，達到 1,250 萬英鎊。基本營業利潤率從 4.1% 略有改善至 4.2%。

The average transaction value in both H.Samuel and Ernest Jones continues to increase, helped by the growth in the diamond mix. Merchandise margins were above last year with the impact of change in the sterling dollar exchange rate more than offsetting the increase in commodity cost.

得益於鑽石組合的增長，H.Samuel 和 Ernest Jones 的平均交易價值持續增長。商品利潤率高於去年，英鎊匯率變化的影響遠遠抵消了商品成本的增加。

In real estate, 81 stores, predominantly H.Samuel, will be refurbished or relocated this year, and the program is virtually completed by the end of the third quarter. In total, 142 stores, covering about 30% of sales, will be in the new format this Christmas.

在房地產方面，今年將翻新或搬遷 81 家商店（主要是 H.Samuel），該計劃將在第三季度末基本完成。今年聖誕節共有 142 家商店採用新業態，約佔銷售額的 30%。

Permits of these stores continue to be ahead of that of their peers. Opened nine stores this year, two H.Samuel and seven Ernest Jones. In line with our real estate strategy, 10 H.Samuel stores will be closed.

這些商店的許可證繼續領先於同行。今年開設了 9 家商店，其中兩家是 H.Samuel，七家是 Ernest Jones。根據我們的房地產戰略，10 家 H.Samuel 商店將關閉。

Improvements in the diamond collection and its presentation continue. The Leo Diamond range has been further expanded in Ernest Jones, and all H.Samuel stores now carry a Forever Diamond selection.

鑽石收藏及其展示的改進仍在繼續。 Ernest Jones 的 Leo Diamond 系列進一步擴大，所有 H.Samuel 商店現在均提供 Forever Diamond 系列。

Diamond participation is up by about 1.5% in the sales mix in the year-to-date in both H.Samuel and Ernest Jones.

今年迄今為止，H.Samuel 和 Ernest Jones 的鑽石參與度在銷售組合中增加了約 1.5%。

The business has benefited from the comprehensive new training program introduced last year. In addition, when stores are closed for remodeling, we use the opportunity to train staff to take advantage of the increased selling opportunity offered by the new concept. As a result, our staff are noticeably better trained than last year.

該業務受益於去年推出的全面的新培訓計劃。此外，當商店關閉進行改造時，我們利用這個機會培訓員工，以利用新概念提供的增加的銷售機會。因此，我們的員工受到的培訓明顯比去年更好。

For both H.Samuel and Ernest Jones, the design of the catalogs and the targeting of their distribution have been further improved. We have also been testing a customer relationship marketing program for Ernest Jones which has produced some encouraging results.

對於 H.Samuel 和 Ernest Jones 來說，目錄的設計和發行的針對性都得到了進一步的改進。我們還一直在測試歐內斯特·瓊斯的客戶關係營銷計劃，該計劃已經產生了一些令人鼓舞的結果。

Television advertising for both H.Samuel and Ernest Jones has been extended. H.Samuel ads will run in markets representing about 65% of sales compared with 40% last year, and for Ernest Jones, the figure is about 60% against about 25% last year.

H.塞繆爾和歐內斯特·瓊斯的電視廣告已延長。 H.Samuel 的廣告將在佔銷售額約 65% 的市場投放，而去年為 40%；對於 Ernest Jones，這一數字約為 60%，而去年為 25% 左右。

There will be a mix of 30 and 10-second commercials. New creative executions have been developed for both brands.

將混合播放 30 秒和 10 秒的廣告。兩個品牌都開發了新的創意執行方式。

In summary, in the U. K., the softening trend in the trading environment continued during the third quarter. We're not immune from the wider economic environment, and the U.K. division also faces a record of extremely tough comps with fourth quarter like for like sales up by 6.7% last year.

總而言之，英國第三季度貿易環境持續疲軟。我們無法免受更廣泛的經濟環境的影響，英國部門也面臨著極其艱難的競爭記錄，去年第四季度的銷售額同比增長 6.7%。

However, we have made notable progress during the year in developing a range of programs to drive the business to which customers have been responding favorably.

然而，今年我們在開發一系列計劃來推動業務發展方面取得了顯著進展，並得到了客戶的積極響應。

In conclusion, we're pleased with the Group performance for the first nine months of the year. Further progress was made in the third quarter against the background of challenging trading conditions.

總之，我們對集團今年前九個月的表現感到滿意。在充滿挑戰的貿易條件下，第三季度取得了進一步進展。

In both the U.S. and the U. K., we have improved the business in all of the critical areas of retail during 2004. Therefore while our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic face demanding fourth quarter comparatives, we are well-positioned to compete over the Christmas season.

在美國和英國，我們在2004 年期間改善了零售業所有關鍵領域的業務。因此，雖然我們在大西洋兩岸的業務在第四季度面臨著嚴峻的比較，但我們已做好了在聖誕節期間競爭的有利條件季節。

I will now open the call for Walker and myself to take questions. However, before I do so I'd like to state that we will not be commenting on trading in November or on the outlook for the holiday season.

現在我將邀請沃克和我本人回答問題。然而，在此之前我想聲明，我們不會對 11 月份的交易或假日季節的前景發表評論。

Thank you, gentlemen. The question-and-answer session will be conducted electronically. If you wish to ask a question please do so by pressing the star key followed by the digit one on your touch-tone telephone now. And we'll take the first question from Lucy Sharma with UBS. Please go ahead.

謝謝你們，先生們。問答環節將以電子方式進行。如果您想提出問題，請立即按按鍵式電話上的星號鍵，然後按數字 1。我們將回答瑞銀集團露西·夏爾馬提出的第一個問題。請繼續。

Good afternoon.

下午好。

Hi, Lucy.

嗨，露西。

Hi. Just going to ask you a comment Terry about the fact that the U.K. profit was down in the third quarter because of the investment into the business. Was wondering if you could clarify what the investment costs would be going into the fourth quarter, basically how much more costs increase in the U.K. business?

你好。特里，我想請您對第三季度英國利潤因業務投資而下降這一事實發表評論。想知道您是否可以澄清第四季度的投資成本是多少，基本上是英國業務的成本增加了多少？

For some specific insight, I'll turn this over to Walker, but we certainly have increased, as you know, we've increased our investment in capital in the business, which had been slowed down from prior, during prior years, the past couple of years because of the testing of the new open-store format. Also increased our advertising costs in the U.K. Walker, do you want to put some more color on this?

對於一些具體的見解，我將把這個轉交給沃克，但我們確實增加了，如你所知，我們增加了對業務的資本投資，這比之前、前幾年、過去已經放緩了。由於新的開放商店模式的測試，已經花費了幾年的時間。還增加了我們在英國沃克的廣告費用，你想在這上面加點顏色嗎？

Yeah, I think the first point to know is that clearly most of the type of investments we've made, whether it be the impact of additional depreciation or some extra training, most of that type of expenditure arises evenly over the year. Therefore it has a more noticeable impact in the third quarter than it does in the fourth quarter. So I think specifically as I say depreciation clearly is spread evenly over the year.

是的，我認為首先要知道的是，顯然我們所做的大多數投資類型，無論是額外折舊的影響還是一些額外培訓的影響，大多數此類支出在一年中均勻出現。因此，第三季度的影響比第四季度更為明顯。因此，我認為，正如我所說，折舊顯然在一年中均勻分佈。

Overall expenses in the U. K. in the third quarter were up somewhere between 4% and 5%. And clearly that has a bigger impact on the low profit quarter than it does have on, say, the fourth quarter.

第三季度英國的總體支出增長了 4% 至 5%。顯然，這對低利潤季度的影響比對第四季度的影響更大。

The additional expenditure clearly in terms of investment in the business in the fourth quarter will be the additional television advertising, which as Terry said is into a number of different areas within the U.K., into a number of different U.K. regions. Overall, U.K. advertising as a percent to sales will increase somewhere up to about 2.7, 2.8% of sales for the full year.

就第四季度業務投資而言，額外支出顯然將是額外的電視廣告，正如特里所說，這些支出將進入英國的許多不同領域，進入英國的許多不同地區。總體而言，英國廣告佔銷售額的百分比將上升至約 2.7%，佔全年銷售額的 2.8%。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. We'll now take a question from Mark Charnock with Investec. Please go ahead.

謝謝。我們現在將回答 Investec 的 Mark Charnock 提出的問題。請繼續。

Hi, guys.

嗨，大家好。

Hello.

你好。

Just a couple of questions. First of all, on the U.K., from recollection I think that the refurbs that you've been this year do impact the actual kind of run rate into the sales because of the destruction whilst they're closed. Could you quantify broadly what that effect is and whether that was different in the third quarter compared to the first half?

只是幾個問題。首先，在英國，根據我的記憶，今年的翻新確實影響了銷售的實際運行率，因為它們在關閉時遭到了破壞。您能否大致量化這種影響是什麼以及第三季度與上半年相比是否有所不同？

And just on the U.S., for obviously us on this side of the pond, just give us some idea what in the past the impact has been with the U.S. Presidential elections on the trading pattern during the course of an election year, if there is a noticeable impact on your business in years where you have the U.S. Presidential elections?

就美國而言，顯然對於我們在池塘這一邊的人來說，請讓我們了解一下過去美國總統選舉對選舉年期間的貿易模式有何影響，如果有的話在美國總統選舉的年份，您的業務是否會受到顯著影響？

The, I'll take the second one first. In terms of the elections, there is no pattern. There's no absolute pattern. We've looked at this, and results are all over the board. Sometimes they go up after the election. Sometimes they go down. So there's no intelligence that we could find to be gained from examining those patterns. Walker, would you comment on the U.K. closure impact?

那個，我先拿第二個。就選舉而言，沒有任何模式。沒有絕對的模式。我們已經研究過這個問題，結果是全面的。有時選舉後它們會上升。有時它們會下降。因此，我們無法從檢查這些模式中獲得任何情報。沃克，您對英國關閉的影響有何評論？

Yeah, I think the impact is different in the third quarter compared to the first half. This year, as we have done right about 80 refurbishments in the U.K., predominantly H.Samuel, then these have been spread out fairly evenly through the years. So in the first half, our like for like increase was somewhere around about 1% higher than in the total increase in sales.

是的，我認為第三季度的影響與上半年不同。今年，我們在英國完成了大約 80 次翻新工程，主要是 H.Samuel，因此這些年來這些翻新工程的分佈相當均勻。因此，上半年，我們的同類增長比總銷售額增長高出約 1%。

If you look in the third quarter, rather, the total increase in sales was slightly ahead of the like for like at 1.9% against 1.6, like for like. The reason for that is that in the third quarter this year we've actually done much the same number of refurbishments as last year if most of the 30 or the third year of the test in the remodel, most of these were completed in the third quarter last year. So, yes, there is a difference.

相反，如果你看看第三季度，你會發現銷售額的總增幅略高於同類產品，為 1.9%，而同類產品為 1.6%。原因是，今年第三季度我們實際上完成了與去年相同數量的翻新工程，如果在改造中進行了30次或第三年的測試，其中大部分是在第三年完成的去年一個季度。所以，是的，是有區別的。

In the first half of the year we did significantly more refurbishments this year than last, and that was reflected in a lower total sales increase than like for like. That position has equalized pretty well in the third quarter and looking forward into the fourth quarter where clearly we don't tend to do any refurbishments. We would expect to see the same sort of pattern as we've seen in the third quarter.

今年上半年，我們的翻新工程明顯多於去年，這反映在總銷售額增幅低於同類水平。這個位置在第三季度已經相當平衡，並且展望第四季度，顯然我們不傾向於進行任何翻新。我們預計會看到與第三季度相同的模式。

Okay. Thanks, Walker.

好的。謝謝，沃克。

Thank you. We'll now take a question from James Isenwater with DRKW. Please go ahead.

謝謝。現在我們將接受 DRKW 的 James Isenwater 的提問。請繼續。

Terry, a couple of questions if I can, please. Firstly, in terms of pricing next year, post-Christmas, given the move in the gold price and the third diamond price increase we have had from De Beers, what do you think the market will do in terms of pricing next year, and at what point will you have to address that? And then in the U.K., have you seen any change in the competitive environment in the run-up to Christmas and, again, specifically I'm thinking in terms of pricing?

特里，如果可以的話，請問幾個問題。首先，就明年聖誕節後的定價而言，考慮到金價的走勢以及戴比爾斯的第三次鑽石價格上漲，您認為明年市場的定價將如何？你需要解決什麼問題？然後在英國，在聖誕節前夕，您是否看到競爭環境發生了任何變化？我再次特別考慮的是定價方面的變化？

In terms of pricing actually, it's certainly too early to draw any conclusions at this point. We've got to stand back and take a look at pricing and, I am sorry commodity prices, and we'll certainly take a hard look at that in January and early February. That would be the time that we would look at it if any changes would be called for. They could be accomplished, I'm not saying that they will be, but they could be accomplished in the spring to early summer period, and certainly beyond that as appropriate.

實際上就定價而言，現在下任何結論肯定還為時過早。我們必須退後一步，看看定價，對不起，大宗商品價格，我們肯定會在 1 月和 2 月初認真審視這一點。如果需要進行任何更改，那將是我們考慮的時間。它們可以實現，我並不是說它們一定會實現，但它們可以在春季到初夏期間完成，當然也可以在適當的時候完成。

What I would say to you is as we have said, the same thing that we've said in the past, and I've been in the industry for 25 years almost, and traditionally, and the recent past is consistent with that, commodity price increases have been able to be passed on to consumers. So that's about all I can comment to you on that because the recent tick-up in gold prices is really very fresh, isn't it?

我要對你說的是，正如我們已經說過的，我們過去也說過同樣的事情，我在這個行業已經差不多 25 年了，傳統上，最近的過去也與此一致，商品價格上漲已經能夠轉嫁給消費者。這就是我能就此向您發表的全部評論，因為最近金價的上漲確實非常新鮮，不是嗎？

Sure.

當然。

In terms of U.K. pricing, we see some signs of some increased promotional activity, but it's not widespread and it's not continuous. There just seems to be some, a little extra flurry of some pre-Christmas promotions, but they seem to be limited-time events and it doesn't seem to be throughout the marketplace.

就英國定價而言，我們看到一些促銷活動有所增加的跡象，但這種活動並不廣泛，也不是持續的。聖誕節前似乎有一些額外的促銷活動，但它們似乎是限時活動，而且似乎並沒有在整個市場上進行。

And is that coming from the independence area or is that coming from the general merchandisers?

這是來自獨立領域還是來自百貨商？

I'm talking about in the general sector.

我說的是一般部門。

Okay. All right, thank you.

好的。好吧。謝謝。

You're welcome

不客氣

We now take a question from Ben Harrington.

我們現在回答本·哈林頓的問題。

Hello, hello.

你好你好。

Hello.

你好。

Hi there. Ben Harrington, financial journalist with a publication called Merger Market. I've just got one very quick question. I was just looking through my records, and I noticed there was a story quite recently in one of the U.S. papers which mentions that Signet were interested in acquiring regional jewelry store chains. And I was just wondering if that was accurate or not?

你好呀。本·哈林頓 (Ben Harrington)，財經記者，出版名為《併購市場》的刊物。我有一個非常簡短的問題。我剛剛翻閱了我的記錄，注意到最近在一份美國報紙上有一篇報導，其中提到 Signet 有興趣收購區域性珠寶連鎖店。我只是想知道這是否準確？

Yes, we've stated for some time now that we --

是的，我們已經聲明了一段時間了，我們——

Right.

正確的。

That we would like to, that we're ready, willing and able to do an acquisition.

我們願意、我們已經準備好、願意並且能夠進行收購。

Right. And --

正確的。和 -

That acquisition would, and the strategy behind that would be to either add further mass to our Kay brand, and/or to develop a second national brand by consolidating all of our regional chains. Any acquisition we would stress, however, must meet our criteria.

此次收購及其背後的戰略將是進一步增加我們的 Kay 品牌的質量，和/或通過整合我們所有的區域連鎖店來開發第二個全國品牌。然而，我們強調的任何收購都必須符合我們的標準。

Right.

正確的。

That is, it's got to be in an area where we're geographically under represented, it's got to be our area of the market. Very importantly, it's to be real estate quality that we would invest in ourselves if we were opening stores.

也就是說，它必須位於我們在地理上代表性不足的區域，它必須是我們的市場區域。非常重要的是，如果我們要開店，我們會投資自己的房地產質量。

Right.

正確的。

Finally, it's got to be of a price that earn our returns.

最後，它的價格必須能夠為我們帶來回報。

Right. And how approximately, I mean where abouts are you sort of thinking about on that?

正確的。我的意思是，你大概在想什麼？

We wouldn't discuss anything specifically.

我們不會具體討論任何事情。

Right, okay. And you, is that, is that you doing that, looking at that internally or would you, have hired somebody from outside, a financial advisor or anything along those lines?

對了，好吧。而你，是不是，你是這樣做的，從內部角度來看，還是你會從外部聘請某人，財務顧問或類似的東西？

We have the resources internally to examine the industry. We're very familiar with it and have plenty of resources here.

我們擁有內部資源來檢查該行業。我們對此非常熟悉，並且這裡有充足的資源。

Right.

正確的。

To be able to evaluate it.

才能對其進行評價。

Okay. Great, thanks.

好的。萬分感謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one now. We'll now take a question from John Baillie with [inaudible].

女士們、先生們，再次強調，如果您想提問，請立即按星號一號。我們現在將回答 John Baillie 的問題[聽不清]。

Hello, John Baillie from SG. Good afternoon. Given what you know on the gross margin outlook and on costs, what like for like growth do you need in Q4 in both regions to maintain profitability in that quarter?

你好，來自 SG 的 John Baillie。下午好。鑑於您對毛利率前景和成本的了解，您在這兩個地區的第四季度需要什麼類似的增長才能維持該季度的盈利能力？

To maintain profitability? Or to maintain, well, --

為了保持盈利能力？或者維持，嗯，——

Yes, to maintain the EBIT numbers each region.

是的，維持每個地區的息稅前利潤數字。

To maintain profitability, the fourth quarter is so large, we could, we're not predicting or looking for these, but we could probably incur substantial like for like decreases in order to maintain profitability. As you know, we're profitable in all four --

為了保持盈利能力，第四季度的規模如此之大，我們可以，我們不會預測或尋找這些，但為了保持盈利能力，我們可能會出現類似的大幅下降。如你所知，我們在這四個領域都實現了盈利——

Sorry. Sorry I meant in terms of profits to the same level as Q4 for previous year.

對不起。抱歉，我的意思是利潤與去年第四季度相同。

At constant rates? At constant rates, it would be in the low single digits in the U.S. and probably lower single digits in the U.K. because there are, because of the lack of new store growth and the operating leverage we have in the U.K.

按固定利率？按照固定匯率計算，美國的銷售額將處於較低的個位數，英國的銷售額可能會更低，因為英國缺乏新店增長和運營槓桿。

So if the U.K. came in with another repeat maintained at 1.6 and that's the region, it could maintain profitability?

那麼，如果英國再次將重複率維持在 1.6（也就是該地區），它可以保持盈利嗎？

I think in terms of the fourth quarter where effectively new space has less of an impact because clearly new space certainly in the fourth quarter in the U.S. we would expect it to be at least breakeven. I would say it's basically more single digits in both countries whether it's 1.6 or 2, it's certainly in that low single digit bracket.

我認為就第四季度而言，實際上新空間的影響較小，因為顯然美國第四季度的新空間肯定會出現，我們預計它至少會實現盈虧平衡。我想說，無論是 1.6 還是 2，這兩個國家基本上都是個位數，肯定是在那個低個位數的範圍內。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Thank you. Gentlemen, once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your touch-tone telephone. We'll take a question now from David Jeary with Credit Suite First Boston.

謝謝。先生們，如果您想提問，請再次按按鍵式電話上的星號鍵。我們現在將回答來自 Credit Suite First Boston 的 David Jeary 的問題。

Good afternoon, gentlemen. A couple of very quick questions. One, can you quantify roughly where you are on the gross margin year-on-year in the U.K. ahead? And secondly, was there any specific reason for the small uptick in central costs in Q3?

下午好，先生們。幾個非常簡短的問題。第一，您能大致量化一下您在英國未來的毛利率同比情況嗎？其次，第三季度中央成本小幅上升有什麼具體原因嗎？

Walker, do you want to take those?

沃克，你想拿走那些嗎？

Yeah, in terms of the gross margin percent increase in the U.K., it's basically been fairly constant, a steady increase during the year, I would say low tens of basis points and clearly a factor in that is the continued weakness of the dollar, which is more than offsetting the increase in the commodity prices. For the tick-up in central costs, to be frank I think it went up by about 200,000. There's no specific thing I think in many ways it went from 1.5 to 1.7 million. There's no specific instance, nothing certainly unusual within that.

是的，就英國的毛利率百分比增長而言，它基本上是相當穩定的，在這一年中穩步增長，我想說的是低幾十個基點，顯然其中一個因素是美元的持續疲軟，這足以抵消大宗商品價格的上漲。對於中央成本的上漲，坦白說，我認為上漲了大約20萬。我認為從很多方面來看，沒有什麼具體的事情，從 1.5 到 170 萬。沒有具體的例子，其中也沒有什麼異常的地方。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Maybe some, Walker, weren't there extra Sarbanes-Oxley, or compliance costs?

也許有些人，沃克，沒有額外的薩班斯-奧克斯利法案或合規成本嗎？

Yes. But that certainly not as high as 200,000 pounds. So there are just a number of small factors that contributed to the increase.

是的。但這肯定不會高達20萬英鎊。因此，只有一些小因素導致了這一增長。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Gentlemen, it appears there are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to you for any additional remarks.

謝謝。先生們，目前似乎沒有其他問題了。我想將會議轉回給您，請您發表補充意見。

Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank all of you for taking part in this call. A reminder, our Christmas trading statement is scheduled for January 13, and that will be followed by a conference call.

謝謝你，接線員。我要感謝大家參加這次電話會議。提醒一下，我們的聖誕交易聲明定於 1 月 13 日發布，隨後將召開電話會議。

I'd like to wish everyone, especially the people in the U.S. a happy Thanksgiving season. A happy Thanksgiving this week, and look forward to speaking to all of you on January 13.

我祝愿大家，特別是美國人民感恩節快樂。本週感恩節快樂，期待 1 月 13 日與大家交談。

That will conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。