Ralph Lauren turnaround effort impacts Q1

Ralph Lauren Corp. swung to a loss in its first quarter as costs related to efforts to turn around its business cut into first quarter earnings. But it still managed to beat Wall Street expectations.



The company lost $22 million, or 27 cents per share, versus net income of $64 million, or 73 cents per share, in the year-ago period.



Revenue in the quarter was down 4% to a better-than-expected $1.55 billion.



Same-store sales declined 6%, which was greater than expected.



Earlier this summer, the luxury retailer unveiled its “The Way Forward” turnaround plan, which is designed to reenergize the core brand. The plan includes closing about 50 underperforming stores, corporate restructuring and supply chain improvements.



“We have made good initial progress in the execution of our Way Forward Plan,” said Stefan Larsson, president and CEO.



“We will continue to balance driving near-term performance with the pursuit of our long-term vision. We have already completed the planned right-sizing of the organization and are well underway in building the leadership team that will have the strength to successfully execute the plan.”



At the end of first quarter fiscal 2017, Ralph Lauren had 485 directly operated stores and 598 concession shops across the globe. The directly-operated stores included 132 Ralph Lauren, 81 Club Monaco and 272 Polo factory stores.