Lululemon bounces back as Q4 tops estimates

Vancouver -- Lululemon Athletica Inc. is apparently back on track, reporting better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter amid increased traffic. On the company’s quarterly conference call, executives said the retailer hopes to post double-digit square footage growth for the United States and Canada in its current fiscal year, in addition to continuing to grow its brand overseas.



Lululemon’s profit for the quarter was $110.9 million, up from $109.7 million a year ago. Net revenue increased 16% to $602.5 million from $521 million in year-ago period.



Same-store sales, including online sales, increased by 8% for the fourth quarter. Web sales now account for 19% of company revenue.



Lululemon has been working to recover from its highly-publicized 2013 debacle regarding its signature black yoga pants. Customers said the product was too sheer.



"Our solid performance in the fourth quarter builds on the momentum that began in the third quarter and reflects improved traffic and a strong guest response," said Laurent Potdevin, Lululemon's CEO. "2014 was a critical year when we strengthened our leadership team and made important investments in our product pipeline, guest experience, brand and community engagement. In 2015, we expect to substantially complete this foundational work and accelerate our investments in innovation to drive sustainable global growth as we continue to lead the market that we created."



Income from operations for the quarter increased by 2% to $157.2 million, and as a percentage of net revenue was 26.1% compared to 29.6% of net revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.



For the first quarter of fiscal 2015, Lululemon expects net revenue to be in the range of $413 million to $418 million based on a total comparable sales increase in the low single digits on a constant dollar basis.



Lululemon operates 201 stores worldwide.