Genesco finishes year strong and swings to full-year profit
Genesco Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded pre-pandemic levels amid a strong holiday season.
The footwear giant and parent company of Journeys, Johnston & Murphy and other brands reported earnings per share of $4.41 for the quarter ended Jan. 29. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $3.48, up from $2.76 in the year-ago period.
Net sales rose 14% to $727.7 million from $637 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales increased 10% over last year.
Net sales increased 7% over the same quarter two years ago. The sales increase from the pre-pandemic quarter was driven by increased wholesale sales, a 36% increase in e-commerce sales, and the positive impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, partially offset by a 4% decrease in store sales as supply chain challenges created inventory shortfalls.
Overall sales for the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 were up 2% at Journeys, up 33% at Schuh, up 51% at Johnston & Murphy and up 98% at licensed brands. Overall sales compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 were up 2% at Journeys, up 15% at Schuh and up 263% at licensed brands, partially offset by a 12% decrease in Johnston & Murphy sales.
For the full year (fiscal 2022), the company reported earnings per share of $7.92, compared with a loss of $3.97 in the prior year. Net sales increased 36% to $2.4 billion. Net sales increased 10% over fiscal 2020. E-commerce sales increased 77% from fiscal 2020.
"We concluded an outstanding year with a very strong fourth quarter that far exceeded our expectations,” said Mimi E. Vaughn, Genesco board chair, president and CEO. “Our holiday performance was fueled by unprecedented levels of full-price selling and strong in-store sales while our digital channel held on to most of last year's record gains. Throughout fiscal 2022 we accelerated our recovery from the pandemic even as we navigated a number of challenges, driving double digit sales growth and record profitability for our footwear companies led by Journeys.”
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Genesco said that its new fiscal year has gotten off to a strong start compared with last year. But it expects the trend to moderate in the near-term as its anniversaries last year's March stimulus payments and first half sales revert to more normalized, pre-pandemic patterns.
“That said, we believe we can deliver another year of solid top-line growth on top of a very strong fiscal 2022 driven by a strong second half as inventory levels improve and recent price actions provide an additional tailwind,” said Vaughn.
For its current year, the company expects sales to be up 2% to 4%, compared to last year. It expects adjusted earnings per share to range between $7.00 and $7.75 per share with its best current expectation near the midpoint of that range.
“We expect the back half will be much stronger than the first half with the greatest pressure in the first quarter,” added Genesco CFO Thomas A. George.
Genesco Inc. operates more than 1,420 stores throughout the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, principally under the names Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Little Burgundy, Schuh, Schuh Kids and Johnston & Murphy.
In addition, Genesco sells footwear at wholesale under its Johnston & Murphy brand, the licensed Levi's brand, the licensed Dockers brand, the licensed Bass brand and other brands.