Ralph Lauren provided a glimmer of hope on Thursday amid a bleak earnings season for retailers.
The New York-based luxury fashion retailer reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates even as sales declined in the US.
New CEO Stefan Larsson is orchestrating a total revamp at the company, whose shares are down nearly 37 percent over the past year.
The former Old Navy and H&M veteran said the quarter reflects the beginning of many more changes to come as he “moves fast to execute our growth strategy and build the company back to a high performance.”
Profit, excluding some items, was 88 cents a share, topping the 83 cents analysts had projected. Revenue on a constant currency fell 0.7 percent to $1.87 billion but was still better than the $1.86 billion average estimate.
International net revenues rose 3 percent, while sales were down 1 percent in North America, where the retailer had bloated inventory levels.
Same-store sales declined 6 percent in the quarter.
“We have been under the most pressure in US market where our main focus is on the wholesale channel,” he said during a call with analysts.
Still, coming on the heels of a dismal quarter for Macy’s, which slashed its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, Ralph Lauren’s results offered some comfort.
Ralph Lauren’s board also authorized $200 million in stock buybacks in addition to the $100 million it had available at the end of its fourth quarter.
While Wall Street analysts were hungry for more details about Larsson’s ideas for reinvigorating the business, he was not ready to pull the curtain back on his plans, repeating at least a dozen times that when the company hosts its investor day on June 7, it will share more information.
“I see big opportunity in the supply chain with inventory management and our lead time. We can sell more with less inventory and drastically increase our speed,” he said.
Shares of Ralph Lauren, whose brands include Polo Ralph Lauren and Club Monaco, were up less than 1 percent at $85.15 in early afternoon trading.