Just months after taking over as CEO for founder Ralph Lauren late previous year, Stefan Larsson initiated significant changes. Analyst consensus had an EPS estimate of $0.89 and revenues of $1.53 billion.
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Following the results, Ralph Lauren shares were trading 10.7 percent higher, at $105.32 apiece at 11:30 a.m. EST. The plan includes closing about 50 underperforming stores, corporate restructuring and supply chain improvements.
At the end of first quarter fiscal 2017, Ralph Lauren had 485 directly operated stores and 598 concession shops across the globe. The company previously had disclosed plans to realign management around brands rather than geographic regions.
Mr. Larsson, who took the helm in November, is the first outsider to hold the role of CEO, a position that Ralph Lauren, the company’s founder, had held for its entire history. Mr. Lauren is chairman, chief creative officer and the company’s single largest shareholder. This was higher than $64 million, or $0.73 per share, in last year’s first quarter.
Profit was $1.06 a share, excluding some items, in the period ended July 2, the New York-based company said in a statement Wednesday. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 89 cents per share.
Revenue was $1.55 billion for the quarter, down from $1.62 billion for the same period a year ago, but beating the $1.53 billion FactSet consensus.
Same-store sales declined 6%, which was greater than expected.
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Sales through third parties fell 5% to $607 million, driven by a decline in North America, where US department stores face challenges from weak consumer traffic. The directly-operated stores included 132 Ralph Lauren, 81 Club Monaco and 272 Polo factory stores.
