Jewellery firm sparkles ahead of sell-off (From The Northern Echo)

Jewellery firm sparkles ahead of sell-off

8:00am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in North-East Business News By Andy Richardson

A JEWELLERY retailer has delivered a sparkling jump in operating profits as its owners mull a sale of the company.

Aurum Holdings, the firm behind the Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, and Watches of Switzerland chains, has defied lacklustre trading conditions on the high street to announce a 53 per cent rise in profits.

The group's operating profits rose to 18.3m in the year to January 29, from £12m, while like-for-like sales were up 10.2 per cent to £300.6m.

Online sales rose 10.7 per cent over the year.

The business, which has around 150 stores in the UK and Ireland, said it continued to mull potential new owners.

Aurum, which is 67 per cent owned by Landsbanki, was put up for sale last April, but any potential deal was put on ice to concentrate on Christmas trading, In a statement issued yesterday, the group said: "Interest remains high and the board is patiently reviewing potential new shareholders who will continue to back the current management team and further strengthen the existing growth strategy."

Aurum chairman Don McCarthy said: "I am extremely pleased with our performance over the year despite the difficult trading environment."

Aurum - taken from the Latin word for Gold - claims to be the largest distributor in the world of luxury brands such as Omega, Tag Heuer and Gucci, as well as the UK's largest distributor for Rolex, Cartier and Breitling.

It has launched a new store concept under the Goldsmiths banner, which it hopes will target more of the fashion end of the market. The first such store opened at Westfield Stratford in London in September, followed by one at the MetroCentre, Gateshead.

A new and contemporary store design will also be launched in the summer as part of a "major renaissance" for Mappin & Webb.

Chief executive Justin Stead, said: "2011 has been a very exciting year for us and we are delighted with our brands performance. We are also very encouraged by the consistent positive sales trend experienced throughout the year, which demonstrates the strength of our six pillar strategy.

"We dont expect retail conditions to improve materially in 2012, however we remain confident that we are now in an even better position to continue to deliver growth in the future."