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Credit transactions | 12 Months Ended
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Jan. 28, 2023
Receivables [Abstract] |
Credit transactions | Credit transactions During Fiscal 2018, Signet announced a strategic initiative to outsource its North America private label credit card programs and sell the existing in-house finance receivables. In October 2017, Signet, through its subsidiary Sterling Jewelers Inc. (“Sterling”), completed the sale of the prime-only credit quality portion of Sterling’s in-house finance receivable portfolio to Comenity Bank (“Comenity”). Sterling also entered into an agreement with Comenity to outsource its private label credit card programs (the “Sterling Program Agreement”). The Company, through its subsidiary Zale Delaware, Inc. (“Zale”) had previously entered into an agreement with Comenity to provide credit services to its Zales banners for all credit card customers (prime and non-prime) (the “Zale Program Agreement”), and this pre-existing Zale Program Agreement was unaffected by the execution of the Sterling Program Agreement. The Zale Program Agreement was set to expire in January 2023, and the Sterling Program Agreement was set to expire in October 2024. Under the Sterling Program Agreement and Zale Program Agreement (collectively, the “Program Agreements”), Comenity established a program to issue credit cards to be serviced, marketed and promoted in accordance with the terms of the Program Agreements. Subject to limited exceptions, Comenity is the exclusive issuer of private label credit cards or an installment or other closed end loan product in the US bearing specified Company trademarks during the term of the Program Agreements. Upon expiration or termination by either party of the Program Agreements, the Company retains the option to purchase, or arrange the purchase by a third party of, the Program Agreement assets from Comenity on terms that are no more onerous to the Company than those applicable to Comenity under the Program Agreements, or in the case of a purchase by a third party, on customary terms. The Program Agreements contain customary representations, warranties and covenants. During Fiscal 2019, in addition to the prime-only credit card portfolio, the Company also entered into various agreements to outsource the non-prime portion of its private label credit card program for Sterling and sell the existing in-house financing receivables. The non-prime portion of the Sterling credit card portfolio was outsourced to CarVal Investors (“CarVal”) and the appointed minority party, Castlelake, L.P. (“Castlelake” and collectively with CarVal, the “Investors”). Under the agreement with the Investors, Signet remained the issuer of non-prime credit with investment funds managed by the Investors purchasing forward receivables at a discount rate determined in accordance with their respective agreements. Signet held the newly issued non-prime credit receivables on its balance sheet for two business days prior to selling the receivables to the respective counterparty in accordance with the agreements. The purchase price was settled with 95% received as cash upon closing. The remaining 5% of the purchase price was deferred until the second anniversary of the closing date. Final payment of the deferred purchase price was contingent upon the non-prime in-house finance receivable portfolio achieving a pre-defined yield, which was finalized in Fiscal 2021 (see below). The agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants. Various amended and restated agreements have been entered into with the Investors as described below. Fiscal 2021 non-prime agreements with the Investors During Fiscal 2021, the 2018 agreements pertaining to the purchase of non-prime forward flow receivables were terminated and new agreements were executed with the Investors which were effective until June 30, 2021. Those new agreements provided that the Investors will continue to purchase add-on non-prime receivables created on existing customer accounts at a discount rate determined in accordance with the new agreements. As a result of the above agreements, Signet began retaining all forward flow non-prime receivables created for new customers beginning in the second quarter of Fiscal 2021. The termination of the previous agreements had no effect on the receivables that were previously sold to the Investors prior to the termination, except that Signet agreed to extend the Investors’ payment obligation for the remaining 5% of the receivables previously purchased in June 2018 until the new agreements terminate. The Company’s agreement with the credit servicer Genesis Financial Solutions (“Genesis”) remained in place. In January 2021, the Company reached additional agreements with the Investors to further amend the purchase agreements described above through June 30, 2021. CarVal continued to purchase add-on receivables for existing accounts and began to purchase 50% of new forward flow non-prime receivables. Genesis (becoming one of the “Investors”) began to purchase the remaining 50% of new forward flow non-prime receivables through June 30, 2021. Castlelake continued to purchase add-on receivables for existing accounts through June 30, 2021. Signet continued to retain add-on receivables for its existing accounts but no longer retained new forward flow non-prime receivables. Fiscal 2022 amended and restated agreements On May 17, 2021, Sterling and Comenity amended the Sterling Program Agreement. In addition, on May 17, 2021, Zale and Comenity amended the Zale Program Agreement (each a “Program Agreement”, and collectively, the “Amended Program Agreements”). The Amended Program Agreements have an initial term from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025 and, unless terminated earlier by either party, automatically renew for successive two-year terms. The Amended Program Agreements provide for, among other things, that Comenity operate a primary source program to issue credit cards to Sterling and Zale customers to be serviced, maintained, administered, collected upon, and promoted in accordance with the terms therein (the "Primary Source Program"). The Amended Program Agreements include a signing bonus, which may be repayable under certain conditions if such Program Agreement is terminated. Subject to limited exceptions, including permitting a second look program, during the term of the Amended Program Agreements, Comenity will be the exclusive issuer of open-ended credit products (including credit cards) in the US bearing specified Company trademarks, including trademarks associated with Kay, Jared, Zale, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, and other specified regional brands under the Amended Program Agreements. The Amended Program Agreements contain customary representations, warranties, and covenants. Upon expiration or termination by either party of a Program Agreement, Sterling or Zale, as applicable, retains the option to purchase, or arrange the purchase by a third party of, the program assets from Comenity on customary terms and conditions. In the case of a purchase by Sterling upon expiration or termination of the Program Agreement, such purchase shall be on terms that are no more onerous to Sterling than those applicable to Comenity Bank under the Purchase Agreement, dated May 25, 2017, by and between Sterling and Comenity Bank. In addition to the Amended Program Agreements, on May 17, 2021, Sterling entered into an Amended and Restated Program Agreement (the “Genesis Agreement”) with Genesis, which amends and restates the Program Agreement entered into by and between Sterling and Genesis on July 26, 2018. The Genesis Agreement has an initial term from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025 and, unless terminated earlier by either party, automatically renews for successive one-year periods. Under the terms of the Genesis Agreement, Genesis will expand its role in originating, funding, administering and servicing a second look credit program to Sterling customers that are declined under the Sterling Program Agreement. In March 2021, the Company provided notice to the Investors of its intent not to extend the respective agreements with such Investors beyond the expiration date of June 30, 2021. All new prime and non-prime account origination have occurred in accordance with the amended and restated Comenity and Genesis agreements as described above since July 1, 2021. On June 30, 2021, the Company entered into amended and restated receivable purchase agreements with CarVal and Castlelake regarding the purchase of add-on receivables on such Investors’ existing accounts, as well as the purchase of the Company-owned credit card receivables portfolio for accounts that had been originated through Fiscal 2021 (see Note 14). During the second quarter of Fiscal 2022, Signet received cash proceeds of $57.8 million for the sale of these customer in-house finance receivables to the Investors. These receivables had a net book value of $56.4 million as of the sale date, and thus the Company recognized a gain on sale of $1.4 million in the North America reportable segment within other operating income in the consolidated statements of operations during the second quarter of Fiscal 2022. Additionally, during the second quarter of Fiscal 2022, the Company received $23.5 million from the Investors for the payment obligation of the remaining 5% of the receivables previously purchased in June 2018. Fiscal 2023 amended and restated agreements In March 2022, the Company entered into amended and restated receivable purchase agreements with the Investors regarding the purchase of add-on receivables on such Investors’ existing accounts. Under the amended and restated agreements, The Bank of Missouri will be the issuer for the add-on receivables on these existing accounts and the Investors will purchase the receivables from The Bank of Missouri. In conjunction with the above agreements in March 2022, the Company entered into agreements with the Investors to transfer all existing cardholder accounts previously originated by Signet to The Bank of Missouri. Therefore, the Company will no longer originate any credit receivables with customers. Accounts receivable The following table presents the components of Signet’s accounts receivable:
(in millions) | January 28, 2023 |  | January 29, 2022
Accounts receivable, trade | $ | 14.5 |  |  | $ | 18.3 |
Accounts receivable, held for sale | — |  |  | 1.6 |
Accounts receivable | $ | 14.5 |  |  | $ | 19.9 |
As described in Note 13, Signet is no longer the issuer of non-prime credit for add-on purchases on existing accounts. Therefore, the Company no longer holds these non-prime credit receivables. Prior to the March 2022 amendments, receivables originated by the Company but pending transfer to the Investors as of period end were classified as “held for sale” and included in accounts receivable in the consolidated balance sheets. As of January 29, 2022, the accounts receivable held for sale were recorded at fair value. Accounts receivable, trade primarily includes amounts receivable relating to accounts receivable from the Company’s diamond sales in the North America reportable segment and from the Company’s diamond sourcing initiative in the Other reportable segment. Customer in-house finance receivables As discussed above, the Company began retaining certain customer in-house finance receivables in the second quarter of Fiscal 2021 through the date of the portfolio sale in June 2021. The Company accounted for the expected credit losses under ASC 326, “Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” which is referred to as the Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) model. The allowance for credit losses related to these receivables was an estimate of expected credit losses, measured over the estimated life of its credit card receivables that considered forecasts of future economic conditions in addition to information about past events and current conditions. To estimate its allowance for credit losses, the Company segregated its credit card receivables into credit quality categories using the customers’ FICO scores. The following three industry standard FICO score categories were used: •620 to 659 (Near Prime) •580 to 619 (Subprime) •Less than 580 (Deep Subprime) In estimating its allowance for credit losses, for each identified risk category, management utilized estimation methods based primarily on historical loss experience, current conditions, and other relevant factors. These methods utilized historical charge-off data of the Company’s non-prime portfolio, as well as incorporated any applicable macroeconomic variables (such as unemployment) that may have been expected to impact credit performance. In addition to the quantitative estimate of expected credit losses under CECL using the historical loss information, the Company also incorporated qualitative adjustments for certain factors such as Company specific risks, changes in current economic conditions that may not have been captured in the quantitatively derived results, or other relevant factors to ensure the allowance for credit losses reflected the Company’s best estimate of current expected credit losses. Management considered qualitative factors such as the unfavorable macroeconomic conditions caused by the COVID-19 uncertainty (including rates of unemployment), the Company’s non-prime portfolio performance during the prior recession, and the potential impacts of the economic stimulus packages in the US, in developing its estimate for current expected credit losses for the period. The following table is a rollforward of the Company’s allowance for credit losses on customer in-house finance receivables:
(in millions) | Fiscal 2022 |  | Fiscal 2021
Beginning balance | $ | 25.5 |  |  | $ | — |
Provision for credit losses | (1.0) |  |  | 26.1 |
Write-offs | (5.5) |  |  | (0.6) |
Recoveries | 0.6 |  |  | — |
Reversal of allowance on receivables sold | (19.6) |  |  | — |
Ending balance | $ | — |  |  | $ | 25.5 |
Beginning in the second quarter of Fiscal 2021, in connection with the new agreements executed with the Investors, additions to the allowance for credit losses were made by recording charges to bad debt expense (credit losses) within selling, general and administrative expenses within the consolidated statements of operations. The uncollectible portion of customer in-house finance receivables was charged to the allowance for credit losses when an account was written-off after 180 days of non-payment, or in circumstances such as bankrupt or deceased cardholders. Write-offs on customer in-house finance receivables included uncollected amounts related to principal, interest, and late fees. Uncollectible accrued interest was accounted for by recognizing credit loss expense. Recoveries on customer in-house finance receivables previously written-off as uncollectible were credited to the allowance for credit losses. A credit card account would be contractually past due if the Company did not receive the minimum payment by the specified due date on the cardholder’s statement. It was the Company’s policy to continue to accrue interest and fee income on all credit card accounts, except in limited circumstances, until the credit card account balance and all related interest and other fees were paid or charged-off, typically at 180 days delinquent, as noted above. Interest income related to the Company’s customer in-house finance receivables was included within other operating income (expense) in the consolidated statements of operations. Accrued interest was included within the same line item as the respective principal amount of the customer in-house finance receivables in the consolidated balance sheets. The accrual of interest was discontinued at the time the receivable is determined to be uncollectible and written-off. The Company recognized $6.5 million and $4.2 million of interest income on its customer in-house finance receivables during Fiscal 2022 and Fiscal 2021, respectively. Interest income recognition ceased at the date of the sale of the portfolio as noted above.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for claims held for amounts due a entity, excluding financing receivables. Examples include, but are not limited to, trade accounts receivables, notes receivables, loans receivables. Includes disclosure for allowance for credit losses. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -URI https://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2196772 + Details
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