Q4FY15 sales at constant currency up 7% at Ralph Lauren

16 May '15

3 min read

For the fourth fiscal quarter ended March 28, 2015, net sales at premium apparels designer and marketer Ralph Lauren was up 7 per cent year on year on a constant currency basis.

Net revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 7 per cent on a constant currency basis, while on a reported basis; they inched up by just 1 per cent to $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter.

“Sales were driven by wholesale segment growth and double-digit e-commerce expansion across all regions,” Ralph Lauren said in a press release.

Consolidated comparable store sales in the reporting quarter too rose marginally by just 1 per cent from a year ago quarter on a constant currency basis and declined 4 per cent on a reported basis.

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 was $1.0 billion, flat from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, while gross profit margin stood at 55.4 per cent, down 80 basis points than the comparable prior year period.

Operating expenses of $854 million in the quarter under review stood at 4 per cent ahead of the quarter from a year earlier.

Operating expense rate at 45.3 per cent hiked 110 basis points compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 from incremental investments in infrastructure and negative foreign currency impacts.

Operating income declined 15 per cent year over year to $190 million in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2015 and operating margin at 10.1 per cent was 190 basis points below the same quarter of last fiscal.

Ralph Lauren attributed the lower operating margin to negative foreign currency effects, and incremental investments in the Company’s long-term strategic growth initiatives.

“Operating margin was better than the outlook provided in February due to disciplined operational management,” the marketer of premium apparels added.

Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 was down to $124 million or $1.41 per diluted share as against $153 million or $1.68 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

The Company had an effective tax rate of 28 per cent in the quarter ended March 29, 2015 which compared to an effective tax rate of 30 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

Ralph Lauren ended the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 with $1.2 billion in cash and investments, or $620 million in cash and investments net of debt.

This compares to $1.3 billion in cash and investments and $989 million in net cash at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

The fourth quarter ended with inventory of $1.0 billion, which was 2 per cent above the fourth quarter from the prior fiscal.

It incurred $391 million in capital expenditures in the quarter under review compared to $390 million in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

The Company repurchased approximately 1.1 million shares of Class A Common Stock during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.

The Company ended the quarter with 466 directly operated stores, comprised of 143 Ralph Lauren stores, 64 Club Monaco stores and 259 Polo factory stores. (AR)

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