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Changes at Ralph Lauren come at cost investors are OK with

Following the results, Ralph Lauren shares were trading 10.7 percent higher, at $105.32 apiece at 11:30 a.m. EST.

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Ralph Lauren said it expects fiscal Q2 2017 sales down in the mid-to-high single digit range, with operating margins 200 to 250 basis points below the prior year period.

The New York company lost $22 million, or 27 cents per share, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The company previously had disclosed plans to realign management around brands rather than geographic regions. To address this issue, CEO Stefan Larsson, who took over the reins of the company from founder Ralph Lauren past year, unveiled a restructuring plan which involved more than 1,000 job cuts, shut stores and eliminate some layers of the management.

“We have made good initial progress in the execution of our Way Forward Plan”, said Stefan Larsson, President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Larsson previously worked at Gap Inc.’s Old Navy chain and H&M Hennes and Mauritz AB. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs, were $1.06 per share.

The official outfitters of the US Olympic team this year at Rio, Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL), reported their results for the first quarter of 2017 which ended on July 2.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 89 cents.

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The company said revenue for the quarter fell 4.3% to $1.55 billion. Same-store sales declined 6%, below the FactSet estimate of 0.9%. For that matter, no one knows whether Larsson is the man for the job, or whether he or even Ralph Lauren himself understand the dimensions of today’s consumer demands.

Ralph Lauren Defies Estimates, Restates Forecasts