Juicy Couture showing very encouraging sales trends, Liz

01 Mar '12

5 min read

Liz Claiborne Inc announced earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011. For the fourth quarter of 2011 on a GAAP basis, income from continuing operations was $245 million, or $2.04 per diluted share, compared to income from continuing operations of $14 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010.

Income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2011 was driven primarily by a $271 million gain on the sales of: (i) the global trademark rights for the Liz Claiborne family of brands; (ii) the trademark rights in the US and Puerto Rico for Monet; and (iii) the Dana Buchman trademark.

Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was $0.10, compared to adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.14 for the fourth quarter of 2010 (inclusive of unrealized foreign currency gains of $0.04 per share in the fourth quarter of 2011 and $0.08 per share in the fourth quarter of 2010).

Pro-forma adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $56 million, compared to $44 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 (excluding unrealized foreign currency gains of $7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and $14 million in the fourth quarter of 2010). Net sales for the fourth quarter were $447 million, a decrease of $12 million, or 2.6%, from the comparable 2010 period. Pro-forma adjusted net sales, excluding the impact of net sales associated with brands that have been sold or exited but not accounted for as discontinued operations, increased 11.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.

For the full year of 2011, the Company recorded income from continuing operations of $145 million, or $1.28 per share, compared to a loss from continuing operations for the full year of 2010 of ($99) million, or ($1.05) per share. Adjusted loss per share from continuing operations in the full year of 2011 was ($0.32) compared to an adjusted loss per share from continuing operations of ($0.07) in the full year of 2010 (inclusive of unrealized foreign currency gains (losses) of ($0.02) per share in the full year of 2011 and $0.16 per share in the full year of 2010, respectively).

Net sales for the full year of 2011 were $1.519 billion, a decrease of $105 million, or 6.4%, from the comparable 2010 period. Pro-forma adjusted net sales, excluding the impact of net sales associated with brands that have been sold or exited but not accounted for as discontinued operations, increased 11.2% compared to the full year of 2010.

William L. McComb, Chief Executive Officer of Liz Claiborne Inc., said: "Pro-forma adjusted EBITDA, excluding foreign currency transaction gains or losses, of $56 million in the fourth quarter and $82 million for the full year 2011, were in line with our recently-provided outlook. We ended the year with net debt of $266, in line with our previously forecasted range of $265 to $270 million."

"We have continued to strengthen our balance sheet, utilizing cash on hand to purchase 140 million euro of our 5% Euro Notes since November, leaving us with 81.5 million Euro Notes outstanding today, which mature in July 2013. For fiscal 2012, we continue to forecast adjusted EBITDA, excluding foreign currency transaction gains or losses, in the range of $125 to $140 million."

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