HAMILTON, Bermuda, November 20, 2012 - Signet Jewelers Limited ("Signet") (NYSE and LSE: SIG), the largest specialty retail jeweler in the US and UK, today reported sales and earnings growth for the 13 and 39 weeks ended October 27, 2012 ("Q3 Fiscal 2013" or "third quarter of Fiscal 2013" and "year to date" respectively).

Mike Barnes, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We delivered another quarter of record earnings per share due to strong execution of our strategies by our team. I would like to thank all at Signet who contributed to these results.

Turning to the fourth quarter, our thoughts are with all those impacted by Superstorm Sandy, and we wish everyone affected a return to normalcy as quickly as possible. The storm created some initial disruption and November thus far has been challenging. With the majority of sales ahead of us, we are well-prepared for the holiday season with exciting new merchandise, terrific marketing, and our talented well-trained sales associates ready to provide customers a great shopping experience.

With the goal of continuing to build profitable market share, we recently completed the acquisition of Ultra Stores, Inc., a leading jewelry retailer operating primarily in outlet malls. We again welcome the Ultra team to our retail family and look forward to executing our outlet strategy, which is to leverage the Kay brand with Ultra's outlet expertise. We have already begun the process whereby we will convert the majority of the stores to Kay Outlets, which we believe will drive increased productivity and further market share gains. We expect to complete this transition by mid Fiscal 2014."

In the US division, sales were $575.6 million compared to $563.0 million in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012, up $12.6 million or 2.2%. Same store sales increased 1.2% compared to an increase of 13.9% in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012, driven primarily by Kay same store sales increase of 5.5%. Same store sales at Jared declined 4.1%, primarily due to a one-time watch event in Fiscal 2012 and discontinuation of the associated watch line. The loss of these sales reduced Jared same store sales by approximately 9.6% and total US same store sales by 3.5%. Across both Kay and Jared, same store sales were strong in the fashion jewelry and bridal categories, driven by branded and exclusive merchandise.

In the UK division, sales were $140.6 million compared to $147.5 million in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012, down $6.9 million or 4.7%. Same store sales increased 2.3% compared to a decrease of 0.5% in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012. The primary driver was a strong performance in prestige and fashion watches.

Non same store sales includes all sales from stores not open for 12 months.

Non-GAAP measure.

3. Includes stores selling under the Leslie Davis nameplate.

In the third quarter of Fiscal 2013, gross margin was $235.4 million or 32.9% of sales, up 50 basis points compared to the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

Gross margin dollars in the US increased $7.8 million compared to the third quarter of Fiscal 2012, reflecting a gross margin rate increase of 70 basis points. This improvement is primarily a result of an increase in the gross merchandise margin rate of 90 basis points over that of the third quarter of Fiscal 2012, principally due to favorable changes in sales mix. The US net bad debt to US sales ratio was unchanged at 5.4% compared to the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

Gross margin dollars in the UK decreased $2.3 million compared to the third quarter of Fiscal 2012, reflecting a gross margin rate decline of 30 basis points. The decrease in rate was a result of a decline in gross merchandise margin of 130 basis points, caused primarily by customers' preferences for promotional merchandise. Partially offsetting the decline were favorable store occupancy expenses due to store closures and negotiated rent reductions.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $222.6 million, or 31.1% of sales, up 20 basis points. The increase was primarily due to acquisition-related costs of $2.5 million and administrative cost increases to support strategic initiatives. This was partially offset by a $3.9 million favorable settlement from the De Beers anti-trust litigation.

Other operating income, net was $39.7 million or 5.5% of sales compared to $32.2 million or 4.5% of sales in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012. This increase primarily reflected interest income earned from higher outstanding receivable balances and a change in the mix of finance programs selected by customers.

Operating income was $52.5 million or 7.3% of sales compared to $42.5 million or 6.0% of sales in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012. The result is primarily due to the following:

In the US division, operating income was $67.9 million or 11.8% of sales compared to $56.4 million or 10.0% of sales in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

In the UK division, the operating loss was $5.5 million or (3.9)% of sales compared to an operating loss of $5.0 million or (3.4)% of sales in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

Unallocated costs were $9.9 million compared to $8.9 million in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

Income tax expenses were $16.7 million compared to $16.0 million in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012. The expected effective tax rate for Fiscal 2013 is 35.4%.

Net income was $34.9 million or 4.9% of sales compared to $26.1 million or 3.7% of sales in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

Diluted earnings per share increased $0.13 or 43.3% to $0.43 compared to $0.30 in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012. The weighted average diluted number of common shares outstanding was 80.9 million compared to 87.1 million in the third quarter of Fiscal 2012.

Guidance is provided to assist in understanding the complexities of fourth quarter Fiscal 2013:

A replay of the conference call and a transcript of the call will be posted on Signet's website as soon as is practical after the call has ended.