Victoria’s Secret parent reports robust holiday sales; offers upbeat guidance

L Brands reported holiday sales that beat its expectations, boosted by another strong performance from Bath & Body Works.

The parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works reported sales of $3.836 billion for the nine-week holiday period through Jan. 2. Same-store sales rose 5%. 

By brand, same-store sales fell 9% at Victoria's Secret, including a decrease of 23% in stores and 24% increase in the direct channel. Same-store sales rose 17% at Bath & Body Works, including a 5% increase in stores and 64% sales growth in the direct channel.

“We are very pleased with our holiday results, which significantly exceeded our initial expectations, driven by an increase in profitability at both Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret,” stated Andrew Meslow, CEO of L Brands and Bath & Body Works. “In this challenging environment, we maintained our focus on customer and associate safety and delivered exceptional execution. Bath & Body Works continues to deliver record results, demonstrating the strength of the brand. The turnaround at Victoria’s Secret also continues to gain momentum, driven by an improved merchandise assortment and focused execution of retail fundamentals and our profit improvement plan.”

L Brands said it is now expecting fourth-quarter EPS to range from $2.70 to $2.80, well ahead of the FactSet consensus for $1.97. The company is due to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 24.