Total UK Revenue Declined 60% in Last Quarter

[Miss Kitty]

Taken from GEMS TV HOLDINGS LIMITED, First Quarter Financial Statement And Dividend Announcement, Nov 10, 2008. For the Financial Period Ended: 30/09/2008


"Total Revenue in Q1 FY2009 declined 22% to $37.4mn compared to Q1
FY2008. The decrease is the result of worsening general economic conditions
in our main markets.

Total Revenue from our US subsidiary, Gems TV (USA) Ltd, continued to
grow in Q1 FY2009, increasing 25% to $23.7mn although at a much slower
pace than previous quarters. The US marketplace progressively worsened
throughout the quarter as the financial crisis became more severe. September
2008 was particularly affected because our viewers were easily distracted by
other TV programming such as the US presidential elections and negative
news reports of economic conditions in the US. Total items sold increased by
28% while average selling prices (“ASPs”) were $99 compared to $102 in our
Q1 last year as we tried to move more items to keep the pace of our reverse
auction games high and to attract more customers.

However, this increase in US revenue was more than offset by a reduction in
sales in our UK operations resulting from challenging economic conditions,
poor consumer sentiment, a previously announced regulatory change in how
we are allowed to play our reverse auction games and a highly price competitive environment.

Total revenue in the UK declined 60% to $11mn
compared to Q1 FY2008. The overall market continued to slow drastically
which was evidenced by the fall in the number of gold items hallmarked in the
UK during our Q1 FY2009 which fell 31% from the same period last year.
The number of items we sold in the UK fell 55% compared to Q1 FY2008 and
our ASPs fell from $78 to $69 as we shifted to lower priced products."

Full details can be found here: http://www.gems.tv/investor.html​

No wonder they are running Ultra Clearance events.

I would like to point out that we did warn them that this would happen.

 

[Sacha]

True Miss Kitty. :54:

They shouldn'a messed with the website........and losing Steve A was a disaster!! mysmilie_1476

 

[Klosblue]

But will they listen and learn? I very much doubt it!!

 

[borednow]

i think most of us have moved on to greener pastures when it comes to our jewellery bulk buying lol we are still buying (maybe not as much lol) but just not from Gems.

the site fiasco, the loss of Steve, the atrocious decline in the CS department, the total disregard of net buyers, the 'same old same old' designs and the stupid 'shop' with its prices have all helped to knock the profits. the credit crunch imo is the least of their problems which is a very scary thought for the owners.
a year ago i was spending a small fortune at Gems (my christmas delivery last year was frightening tbh lol) and since last christmas i have made a total of 2 orders from Gems and while i have been tempted by a couple of things since, i have not been tempted enough to actually buy

 

[Beady Belle]

I haven't actually bought myself anything from Gems since Jan. I think, although I have bought my Mum a few things this year, notably the lovely black and white pearls, one of the large jewellery boxes for Christmas, and last week a golden sapphire, princess cut channel set ring, which went for the bargain price of £21.

Such a shame that the fun has gone out of Gems, it used to be a great company to deal with.

:doggie:

 

[PearlyQueen]

Well if this forum is anything to go by, it should have dropped by much more than that!!!

I've had about two or three small deliveries for the whole of 2008, compared to huge fortnightly ones for the two years previously.

There is fabulous customer feedback for them right here, if they only chose to take heed of it. But they seemingly don't care. Freeze out your web buyers at your peril.

 

[donna255]

I will also add the upping of shipping to Northern Ireland and the North of Scotland to £12.50 also having an effect. I refuse to buy now.

Have to say lots of gems tv items on ebay, now of course you don't get the money back guarantee or 10 days to change your mind. But hell some good deals on their(of course still many who believe the start price too.) I have bought a lovely sunstone and aquarmarine white gold ring and a blue spinel white gold recently, first £25 and latter £18. Plus with special delivery they arrive the next day.

 

[Phill]

The clock says it all! I don’t see the point in having a falling price channel which has a clock!

 

[cherrypicker]

gems lost its sparkle when steve A left, followed by some of its more long standing presenters and behind camera team, it lost its friendly cosy feel and adopted a more american style. I havent ordered from them for a year! sad in a way because I used to enjoy watching, I have found steve bennets new online live auctions much more entertaining to watch. sorry gems......:52:

 

[Nessarose]

They shouldn'a messed with the website........and losing Steve A was a disaster!!

The site fiasco, the atrocious decline in the CS department, the total disregard of net buyers, the 'same old same old' designs and the stupid 'shop' with its prices have all helped to knock the profits.

Such a shame that the fun has gone out of Gems, it used to be a great company to deal with.

There is fabulous customer feedback for them right here, if they only chose to take heed of it. But they seemingly don't care. Freeze out your web buyers at your peril.

I will also add the upping of shipping to Northern Ireland and the North of Scotland to £12.50 also having an effect. I refuse to buy now.

So true Ladies and so sad. I used to get real excitement from watching the TV and opening the deliveries. My purchases have tailed off into non-existence, companies can ill afford to lose loyal customers but luxury goods like jewellery are even more vulnerable. They can't say we didn't warn them.

What I find most ironic is the rot set in when they changed the website as it couldn't cope with the increased capacity. Bet it would cope fine now.... :spider:

 

[jacqualina]

I think the rot set in when ownership changed and Don and Steve B. left. The whole ethos of the company went with them - the changed website and all the other ills were just symptomatic of this.

 

[Sarah Pocket]

I agree with everything said above. I bought nothing from Gems TV in 2008. In 2007 I bought a special ring using personal shopper and the remainder of my items, totalling several hundred pounds, was all done on the web. When I did attempt one web shop last year, it wouldn't let me check out using my offer code so I gave up and haven't been back since. I occasionally catch the channel whilst channel hopping but I never go to look for it now.

 

[Alladin]

Blimey, didnt realise Gems were in decline, its been well over two years since I bought anything from Gems, and only something small, from Rocks before Christmas. We up graded to Sky+ to utalise the record and pause feature, I must admit, Gems was on the old one under favorites even though I hardly stopped on there. Now it not even on my favorites anymore. Sad to hear its changed beyond the days when I was buying like a junkie.

 

[originalmeggie]

Can't say I'm surprised. But will anything change? No!

Like many others, I spent a fortune until January 2007. Haven't spent anything since. It's boring.

Meggie

 

[Sammi]

I couldnt remember when I last ordered but it would appear to have been on 1st June 08 when I got 3 demantoid garnet items, one of which I have since sold on.

Must admit I rarely give GTV a thought these days. Even tho I've got no spare budget to spend, I've lost the enjoyment of windowshopping too. I used to love the shows that had purrsonality and lots of audience participation. Then it got boring! I havent gone back to see if anything has changed.

 

[amandapanda]

The most telling thing for me about the decline of gems tv is the lack of participation on this section of the forum!

back in the 'good old days' it would be unthinkable for no one to post here for 36 hours!!!!!

 

[LuckyLady]

I'm probably like others, got a lot of stuff when Steve A was there, I thought he was hilarious and I used to love when he came on air and moaned about the "tanzanite and diamond channel", he was very funny. I've only purchased a few things this year, the last about 5 months ago which I ordered on premium delivery and it took 2 weeks to arrive. When I complained, I was told that they had a backlog and the normal deliveries were taking 3-4 weeks. I told them I thought it was appalling customer service, but of course no apology.
I hardly ever watch any more as I hate all the sale and bargain price hours. I used to enjoy the themed hours, like amethyst and topaz, but they hardly seem to do those now and I'm not interested in watching them try to get clear stuff out.