Shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) dipped 6% on Tuesday, despite the upscale clothing company reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat estimates. Revenue in the quarter fell 1.5%, while full year revenue increased 2%.
The company also raised its dividend to $2.95 per share, reflecting a 10% increase. Ralph Lauren shares have climbed 8.43% since the beginning of the year.
RL Earnings & Outlook
Net income for the quarter ended March 30 fell to $31.6 million, or $0.39 per share from $41.3 million, or $0.50 per share a year ago. Adjusted for one-time gains and costs, earnings came to $85 million, or $1.07 per share. On average, analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of $0.89 per share.
Revenue decreased to $1.51 billion from $1.53 billion in the same period a year ago. Analysts had been calling for revenue of $1.48 billion, according to figures compiled by Refinitiv.
North America revenue fell 7% to $708 million with same store sales declining 4%. Europe revenue increased 4% to $435 million with same store sales jumping 5%.
Asia revenue were up 6% to $273 million with same store sales rising 6%. For fiscal 2019, Ralph Lauren reported adjusted earnings of $588 million, or $7.19 per share while revenue surged 2% to $6.3 billion.
Looking ahead, the company expects revenue in the first quarter to increase 3% to 5% and full year revenue to increase 2% to 3%. Wall street expects it to post EPS of $1.59 on sales of $1.42 for the first quarter, and full-year EPS of $7.62 on revenue of $6.43 billion.
Ralph Lauren CEO Comments
Ralph Lauren President and Chief Executive Patrice Louvet said, “Our Next Great Chapter plan is off to a good start – in its first year, we outperformed our commitments across key metrics, including revenue, quality of sales, operating income and EPS.”
“It has been an exciting year of progress and continuous learning in our multi-year journey. We returned to revenue growth one year ahead of plan, average unit retail was better than we expected across all regions and channels as we continued to elevate the brand, and we saw particular strength across our international regions as we invested in product, marketing and distribution,” added Louvet.
Ralph Lauren Corp Profile
Ralph Lauren markets, designs, sources, and distributes a variety of apparel and accessories through department stores, specialty retailers, and its own chain of retail stores and outlets. The core brand names include Polo, Ralph Lauren, and Lauren.
Other sub brands include Women’s Polo, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Blue Label, RLX, Polo Sport, and Chaps. The company also operates its own portfolio of retail stores under the Ralph Lauren and Club Monaco brands.
