Ralph Lauren reports positive results for its 2014-15 FY

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
May 13, 2015

At the moment of truth in the revealing of its 2014-15 financial years results, Ralph Lauren was quite satisfied. "We made excellent progress on our strategic initiatives in Fiscal 2015. We opened several stores in key markets around the world, fueled the momentum of our luxury accessories business with the launch of the Drawstring Ricky bag, and continued to innovate with the introduction of Polo for women as well as the development of Polo Sport which will be launching this Fall. We also announced a new global brand management organizational structure that will more fully leverage the power of our brands to drive future growth for the Company," said Ralph Lauren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer."

The designer and leader's enthusiasm is due to better-than-expected results in the last quarter, closed at the end of March, and thus for the label's entire financial year.

Even though the increase in the dollar compared to other currencies these past few months had a negative impact over international sales, Ralph Lauren recorded a 2% profit, amounting to 7.62 billion dollars. Before exchange rates, growth stands at 4%. For its last quarter, the group saw its revenue improve by 1% to 1.9 billion, carried by wholesale sales which weighed in at more than a billion dollars, while retail sales remained stable at 842 million dollars.

For the year, wholesale sales remained stable (+2% before exchanges) at 3.5 billion dollars, while direct sales increased more than 4% (6% before exchanges) to nearly 4 billion. Under license numbers completed the activity with 169 million dollars, up 2% (3% before currency exchange).

Retail sales, on a comparable basis, dropped 1% (+1% before exchanges) for the year. The group, which notably has a luxury-oriented concept in Milan, as of the end of March had 466 wholly-owned stores, including 143 Ralph Lauren stores, 64 Club Monaco stores and 259 Polo factory stores. It also has 536 concessions in the world, with 72 Ralph Lauren stores and 119 Club Monaco stores and corners under license.

For its 2015 financial year Ralph Lauren saw its operating result decrease by 8%, due to currency fluctuations, amounting to 1.035 billion dollars. Its net result dropped from 776 to 702 million dollars.

For the year underway, the group seems to be aiming at stability. It has announced that it counts on an increase in revenue, before exchanges, of 5%, but adds that it is expecting a drop in its operating margin of between 180 and 230 basis points. This number should thus drop between 25.2% and 24.7%.