July 10th, 2012

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Marks & Spencer Q1 Group Sales Drop 0.7%, General Merchandise Head To Depart

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Marks and Spencer today (10 July) confirmed that general merchandise executive director Kate Bostock will leave the company “by mutual consent” as first quarter general merchandise sales plunged.

The announcement follows months of speculation that Bostock was looking to leave the retailer. She will be replaced by John Dixon, who was most recently executive director of food.

Former Debenhams, Jaeger and Aquascutum CEO Belinda Earl will be appointed in the newly created role of style director, where she will focus on product for two-to-three days a week.

“I would like to thank Kate for the significant contribution she has made to the company.  We are both agreed that this is the right time for her to be moving on from Marks and Spencer and we wish her every success in the future,” said chief executive Marc Bolland.

The announcements came as Marks and Spencer recorded a 0.7% decline in sales, at local currencies, for the quarter ended 30 June. Total UK sales declined 0.9%, with general merchandise recording a 5.1% sales fall. Like-for-like sales were down 2.8% overall, declining 6.8% for general merchandise.

The company said clothing sales continued to be impacted by the merchandising issues in its spring/summer collections reported in April. It emphasised that it has taken steps to strengthen the team, improve buying and merchandising and bring stock back on target for the autumn/winter season, which launches later this month.

“The clothing market continued to be highly promotional throughout the quarter, especially in womenswear, in part due to unseasonal weather conditions. This affected categories such as casual tops, which, given our high market share, are key performance drivers at this time of year,” the company said.

The retailer admitted that the clothing market continued to be highly promotional throughout the quarter, in part due to unseasonable weather conditions, which affected sales of categories like casual tops and linen, which are key categories at this time of year.

The company also announced the appointment of Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne as corporate director of strategy and business development. He was previously a group president at The Estee Lauder Companies. He has been advising M&S on the development of the M&S YourBeauty concept.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Finance, Labor, Men, News, Operations, Retail, ladies | No Responses »

ASOS Q1 Total Group Revenues Rise

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

ASOS plc said its first-quarter total group revenues grew 31% to 141.09 million pounds from a year ago.

Retail sales for the quarter was up 31% year over year to 136.89 million pounds, with UK rising 8%, and International increasing 49%.

Nick Robertson, CEO, commented, ”Our UK performance was particularly encouraging given the current climate at +8%. Our International business grew by +49% driven by a strong performance in the US, +83% and our rest of world category (predominately Australia) at +61%. International sales now represent 65% of the total up from 57% last year.

We remain positive in our outlook, and continue to trade in line with expectations.”

Posted in Apparel, Brand, E-tail, Finance, Men, News, accessories, ladies | No Responses »

Uniqlo’s sales up 4.4% for nine months period

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

For the nine months period from September 2011 through May 2012, Uniqlo Japan, which constitutes 67.7 per cent of consolidated net sales, generated gains in both sales and income. Sales totaled ¥503.2bln ($6.32bln) (+4.4 per cent y/y) and operating income totaled ¥92.7bln ($1.16bln) (+1.8 per cent). Consolidated sales increased 14 per cent to ¥743.5bln ($9.33bln), while operating income expanded 14.1 per cent to ¥119.3bln ($1.49bln) and net income expanded an impressive 35.8 per cent to ¥72.5bln ($910.23mln).

However, both sales and income contracted in the third quarter from March to May 2012, with sales totaling ¥138.6bln ($1.74bln) (-1 per cent y/y) and operating income ¥20.4bln ($256.12mln) (-1.2 per cent). Same-store sales at Uniqlo Japan contracted 5.4 per cent year on year in the third quarter.

Uniqlo International generated gains in both sales and income in the March to May quarter with sales totaling ¥37.7bln ($473.32mln) (+61.1 per cent y/y) and operating income ¥2.1bln ($26.36mln) (+19.8 per cent). The opening of the g.u. Ginza flagship store on March 30 boosted the brand’s profile and same-store sales have expanded by over 40 per cent since then. The g.u. sales target for the year through August 2012 of ¥50bln ($627.75mln) was surpassed on July 1, and now the company expects to achieve operating income of ¥5bln ($62.77mln) in fiscal 2012. For fiscal 2012, it also expects consolidated sales to increase by 13.3 per cent to ¥929.5bln ($11.66bln), consolidated operating income to increase by 13 per cent to ¥131.5bln ($1.65bln), and net income to expand 45.3 per cent to ¥79bln ($991.84mln). That would generate earnings per share of 775.65 yen ($9.73). In addition to the elevated interim dividend of 130 yen ($1.63) which has already been paid out, the company plans to offer a year-end dividend of 130 yen ($1.63), bringing the scheduled annual dividend to 260 yen ($3.26) per share.

In the nine months to May 2012, the company opened 24 new stores and closed 18 existing stores, bringing the total number of stores to 849 (including 21 franchise stores) at the end of May 2012.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Finance, Men, News, Retail, ladies | No Responses »

Limited Brands Inc. Is Climbing On June Sales News

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Limited Brands Inc.  announced Thursday morning that comparable store sales for the month of June increased by 7 percent.

Limited Brands climbed steadily during the first 2 hours of trade Thursday, before profit taking set in. Shares ended the session higher by 1.98 at $46.12 on above average volume. The stock rose to over a one-month high and re-crossed its 50-day moving average.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Finance, News, Retail | No Responses »