Q1 FY16 net sales down 5.7% at Bebe

Gross margin posted by Bebe was 28.9 per cent for the first quarter of FY16 against 32.1 per cent for the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter increased to 46.6 per cent of the net sales as compared to 41.2 per cent of the net sales in Q1 FY16.

The retailer posted a loss of $17.1 million for the quarter from continuing operations. Excluding incremental costs, loss from continuing operations was $12.8 million for the same period. Including a loss from discontinued operations of $1.8 million, net loss for the period was $10.8 million.

During this quarter, the retailer closed one store and opened one company outlet.

Commenting on the company's performance, Jim Wiggett, CEO of Bebe said, “Our first quarter performance reflects the continuation of a challenging retail environment in addition to soft sell-through in our Boho Collection. This led to an increase in our promotional activity as well as higher markdowns resulting in reduced gross margin.”

“Looking ahead, we will continue to evolve the merchandise assortment and enhance our marketing programmes to accelerate the pace of our turnaround,” he added.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2016, Bebe expects comparable store sales to be in negative high single digit range due to the current sales trends, recent merchandising process changes and the related product cancellations which began in October 2015. (MCJ)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk — India