International sales climb 9.3% at Skechers during Q1FY19

"The momentum we experienced in 2018 is continuing as we again achieved a new quarterly sales record in the first quarter of 2019,” began Robert Greenberg, chief executive officer of Skechers.

During the reported period, comparable same store sales in company-owned stores and e-commerce increased 0.7 per cent, including 0.2 per cent in the United States and 2.3 per cent internationally—excluding 61 stores in India that recently transitioned from third-party to company-owned.

“Our focus has been on designing and delivering relevant product across all genders and categories and supporting it with targeted marketing for our diverse consumer base. In the first quarter, Skechers GOrun Razor 3 Hyper received the Editor’s Choice award by Runner’s World, we were on fashion week runways in Berlin and London, launched both a new men’s campaign during the Super Bowl with football legend and broadcaster Tony Romo, and a fresh women’s campaign with pop superstar Camila Cabello, who appeared in Skechers D’Lites in store windows, magazines, and on television and billboards around the world. We are already seeing a positive impact in sales with the launch of our television campaigns for spring, and we believe our momentum will continue into the second quarter. Further, we’re looking forward to meeting with our domestic and international accounts and partners over the next two months, presenting our new styles and marketing," explained Greenberg.

Gross margins were slightly lower as improved margins in the domestic retail business were offset by lower international margins from higher discounts and negative foreign exchange impacts.

"Driving our first quarter 2019 growth was our international wholesale and global retail businesses. On a constant currency basis, our international sales growth was 15.0 percent and our total sales growth was 5.2 percent for the quarter. In the quarter, we also shipped a record number of pairs from our distribution centers in Japan and Europe, and we saw strong growth within our international distributors and joint ventures, including China. With a focus on building our global business, we converted our joint venture in India to a wholly owned subsidiary, and we finalised a joint venture agreement with our distribution partner in Mexico earlier this month. We expect these investments to be accretive in 2019, and for international, which now stands at 57.8 per cent of our total business, to continue to drive growth," stated David Weinberg, chief operating officer of Skechers.

For the second quarter of 2019, the company believes it will achieve sales in the range of $1.200 billion to $1.225 billion, and diluted earnings per share of $0.30 to $0.35. This guidance has taken into account the impact of existing foreign exchange headwinds and the commencement of joint venture operations in Mexico. Based on current expectations, the company anticipates that its 2019 annual tax rate will be in the range of 17 to 20 per cent. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India