Victoria’s Secret talks strong holiday sales; in stock buyback plan

Victoria’s Secret’s first holiday flying solo is trending positive.

The lingerie retailer said it was encouraged by sales growth during the Thanksgiving weekend and the “large rush” of business as Christmas approached. Victoria’s Secret was spun-off by its parent company L Brands in August. 

“I am very pleased with our fourth quarter performance to date and believe we have solid plans in place for the balance of this holiday selling season,” said CEO Martin Waters. “Performance has been broad-based across all of our businesses, and our stores channel has been a position of strength for our results. The teams have executed well and focused on what we can control in this challenging supply chain environment, and I could not be more proud of our efforts.”

Looking ahead, Waters said that Victoria’s Secret stores are in a good inventory position as the retailer begins it semi-annual sale. Victoria’s Secret, which operates 1,4000 stores, has been working transform an image that many found outdated and out of touch. In June, it launched a major rebrand focused on diversity, inclusion and female empowerment. Victoria’s Secret new board is made up of seven directors, six of whom will be women, including the chair.  

The company said it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs & Co. to repurchase $250 million of its common stock. It expects the plan will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2022. It will receive an initial 4.1 million shares of its stock on Dec. 31.

“We believe this share repurchase reflects our confidence in the company and is another step on our journey to create long-term, sustainable value for our shareholders,” Waters said.

The company reaffirmed the fourth quarter guidance provided on November 17, 2021, which forecasted sales to be in the range of flat to up 3% versus last year’s fourth quarter sales of $2.100 billion, operating income to be in the range of $295 million to $335 million and diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.35 to $2.65.

The company also reaffirmed fourth quarter sales, operating income and earnings guidance.