Ascena Retail posts net sales of $1,592 mn in Q1 FY2019

The decline in gross margin dollars from the year-ago period was caused by higher shipping costs related to increased direct channel penetration, greater markdown requirements at the company’s plus fashion and value fashion segments, along with the unfavourable impact of the 53rd week shift and product mix on merchandise margin rate at its kids fashion segment, according to a media release by Ascena Retail. These factors were partially offset by significant merchandise margin rate improvement at the company’s premium fashion segment resulting from strong product acceptance.

“Our first quarter results represent another step forward in our journey to transform Ascena Retail into a more agile, profitable company. We delivered a 3 per cent comparable sales increase, driven by strength at our premium and kids segments. Adjusted earnings per share of 6 cents came in at the top of our guide, driven by better than expected top-line growth,” said David Jaffe, chairman and chief executive officer of Ascena Retail.

“We have built a solid foundation over the course of our transformation, consisting of new brand leadership and significantly enhanced enterprise capabilities. We’ve strengthened this foundation through an enhanced understanding of our customer that we have developed from our recently launched customer insights initiative. We believe our efforts are beginning to produce positive results, and are focused on building upon our momentum. 

“In parallel with execution of strategic brand growth initiatives, we continue to evaluate all opportunities to increase shareholder value, including ongoing assessment of our brand portfolio, development of our platform capability to enable delivery of third party services, and potential new channels of distribution,” said Jaffe. (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India