Smaller Loss for Birks & Mayors in FY, Q1 Sales +19%

(IDEX Online News) – Net sales by Birks & Mayors increased 6.2% to $270.9 million in the fiscal year ended March 26. The improved sales helped the jewelry retailer decrease its net loss by $11.7 million to $7.7 million, according to company reports.

The increase in sales was driven by higher sales from two new stores and a favorable Canadian dollar exchange rate compared to U.S. dollars as well as a 2% improvement in comparable store sales.

The comparable stores sales increase was primarily related to an increase in the average sale transaction as demand for luxury retail products began to slowly increase in both Canada and the U.S.

The retailer, which operates 61 luxury jewelry stores across Canada, Florida and Georgia, said the gross profit margin grew by 180 basis points over the prior year.

The company also reported improvement in sales for the first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year ended June 25, rising 18.8% to $71.2 million.

Comparable store sales increased 10% in the quarter.

 “Fiscal 2011 marked a significant turn-around in operating performance since the very difficult economic environment we experienced in the previous two years," said Tom Andruskevich, President and CEO of Birks & Mayors.