Signet Jewelers Shares Jump In Premarket Trading After Preliminary Q4 Results

Signet Jewelers Ltd. soared 10.5% in premarket trade after the company announced preliminary fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations. The jewelry company said earnings per share will be $3.42, up from $2.84 for the same period last year. Signet sees adjusted EPS of $3.63, exceeding its own guidance range of $3.54 to $3.60 and the FactSet consensus of $3.58. The company said same-store sales were up 4.9%, exceeding the FactSet consensus of 4.6%. The company's board has approved a new share repurchase program of $750 million along with an 18% increase in its dividend. Signet raised its synergy guidance to between $225 million and $250 million from between $150 million and $175 million for the three years betwen Feb. 1 2015 and Jan. 31 2018 due to "incremental synergy opportunities" the company identified in its merger with Zales, said Mark Light, chief executive officer, in a Monday release statement. Signet shares are down 17.3% for the past 12 months while the S&P 500 is down 7.4% for the same period.