Abercrombie & Fitch Q4 net sales increase by 4 percent

Image: Abercrombie & Fitch For the fourth quarter ended January 29, 2022, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reported net sales of 1.2 billion dollars, up 4 percent compared to last year and down 2 percent compared to pre-Covid, 2019 fourth quarter. Commenting on the results, Fran Horowitz, the company’s chief executive officer, said: “2021 is a testament to the fundamental changes we have made to strengthen our foundation and improve our profitability. We are pleased with our recent performance. Following inventory receipt delays that impacted the peak holiday selling period, sales trends initially improved as products began to arrive. While mid-January was impacted by the Omicron surge, sales rebounded in late January as cases fell and new assortments set. Momentum has continued quarter-to-date.” Highlights of Abercrombie & Fitch’s Q4 performance The company’s digital net sales were 556 million dollars or 48 percent of total net sales compared to 475 million dollars or 40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Gross profit rate was 58.3 percent, down approximately 220 basis points compared to last year and up 10 basis points as compared to 2019. Operating income was 98 million dollars and 100 million dollars on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively, as compared to 116 million dollars and 131 million dollars last year, on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively. Net income per diluted share was 1.12 dollars and 1.14 dollars on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively, as compared to 1.27 dollars and 1.50 dollars on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively. Summary of Abercrombie & Fitch’s full year results Net sales were 3.7 billion dollars, up 19 percent compared to last year and 2 percent compared to pre-Covid 2019 full year net sales. Digital net sales were 1.7 billion dollars or 47 percent of total net sales compared to 1.2 billion dollars or 33 percent in fiscal 2019. Gross profit rate was 62.3 percent, up approximately 180 basis points as compared to last year and up 290 basis points as compared to 2019. Operating income was 343 million dollars and 355 million dollars on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively. This compares to operating loss of 20 million dollars and income of 52 million dollars on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively. Net income per diluted share was 4.20 dollars and 4.35 dollars on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively, as compared to net loss per diluted share last year of 1.82 dollars and 73 cents on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively. Abercrombie & Fitch expects FY22 net sales to be up 2 to 4 percent For fiscal 2022, the company expects net sales to be up 2 to 4 percent from 3.7 billion dollars in 2021 with the U.S. continuing to outperform EMEA and APAC driven by growth in both comparable sales and store count. The company expects gross profit rate to be down around 200 basis points as compared to the fiscal 2021 rate of 62.3 percent, with 300-400 basis points of cost inflation partially offset by higher average unit retail. For the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company expects net sales to be up low-single-digits to fiscal first quarter 2021 level of 781 million dollars and gross profit rate to be down around 400 basis points to fiscal 2021 rate of 63.4 percent.
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