Guess Q4 profit falls 23% but beats Street; online sales jump 37%

Los Angeles -- Guess reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter profit amid a 37% jump in the company’s online business and falling expenses. The apparel retailer, however, forecast a disappointing 2015, primarily due to the stronger U.S. dollar (1,190 of Guess’1,668 stores are located outside the United States and about 45% of its revenue comes from international markets).



Guess income fell to $53.9 million for the fourth quarter, ended Jan. 31, from $69.6 million a year earlier.



Total revenue fell 9.3% to $696.7 million, with sales impacted by a strong U.S dollar. E-commerce sales totaled a record $80 million in the quarter.



Same-store sales, including the results of its e-commerce sites, decreased 5.0% in U.S. dollars.



Paul Marciano, CEO, commented, "Overall fourth quarter results were in line with our expectations. In North America, we were pleased by the emerging trends, as comps and traffic improved in the back-end of the quarter.”



In 2015, Guess plans to continue to invest in its omni-channel strategy globally and expects it to be a growth vehicle for fiscal 2016.



“We will also continue to leverage the Marciano brand in our North America Guess stores, and I am very confident in our upcoming product lines for fiscal 2016,” Marciano stated.



Net earnings for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 were $94.6 million, a decrease of 41.8% compared to adjusted net earnings of $162.5 million for the year-ago period.



Total net revenue for fiscal year 2015 decreased 5.9% to $2.42 billion, from $2.57 billion in the prior year.