US footwear giant Caleres posts gross profit of $1.28 bn in FY22

The Famous Footwear segment’s gross margin in FY22 was 46.3 per cent, while the Brand Portfolio segment’s gross margin was 37.6 per cent.

Direct-to-consumer sales represented approximately 72 per cent of the total net sales, demonstrating the company's commitment to its digital strategy, the company said in a press release.

In FY22, Caleres also reported net earnings of $181.7 million, or earnings per diluted share of $4.92, compared to $137 million, or earnings per diluted share of $3.56 in FY21. Adjusted net earnings were $167.1 million, or adjusted earnings per diluted share of $4.52, compared to $165.2 million, or adjusted earnings per diluted share of $4.29 in FY21.

The company's trailing twelve-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in FY22 were $278.4 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $281.3 million, or 9.5 per cent of sales. Furthermore, inventory was down 2.8 per cent compared to fiscal 2021.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales were 36.7 per cent.

For the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY22, net sales were $696.4 million, up 2.5 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2021. The company's gross profit was $281.2 million, with a gross margin of 40.4 per cent. The Famous Footwear segment gross margin was 42.4 per cent, while the Brand Portfolio segment gross margin was 36 per cent. Direct-to-consumer sales represented approximately 75 per cent of the total net sales.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales in Q4 FY22 were effectively in-line with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, at 36.7 per cent. The company reported net earnings of $40.8 million, or earnings per diluted share of $1.13, compared to $33.9 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.88 in Q4 FY21. Adjusted net earnings were $23.4 million, or adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.65, compared to $34.9 million, or adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.91 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

For FY23, Caleres expects flat to 2 per cent growth in consolidated net sales and projected earnings per diluted share to be between $4.10 to $4.30. The company expects consolidated operating margin to range from 7.1 to 7.3 per cent.

For the first quarter of FY23, Caleres expects a decrease in consolidated net sales by 4 to 6 per cent, due to the timing of wholesale shipments in the Brand Portfolio in first quarter 2022, to satisfy customer restocking efforts, and diluted earnings per share of $0.92 to $0.97, the release added.

“Caleres closed a record-setting 2022 with another quarter of strong sales and earnings performance that exceeded initial expectations,” said Jay Schmidt, president and chief executive officer. “Our fourth quarter results were led by our Brand Portfolio, which experienced strong growth in sales, gross margin and earnings and a solid performance from Famous Footwear, which continues to provide the brands, trends and value aligned with consumer preferences.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)