• Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Ralph Lauren Q4 ahead of estimates as Asia, Europe shine

Ralph Lauren Q4 ahead of estimates as Asia, Europe shine

By Huw Hughes

loading...

Scroll down to read more

Business

Image: Ralph Lauren

US fashion label Ralph Lauren has beat its own sales expectations for the fourth quarter and full year as its Asia and Europe markets offset a drop in US sales.

The New York-based company said sales were up 1 percent in the fourth quarter - or 9 percent on a constant currency basis - as a 3 percent drop in its home North America market was offset by a 1 percent increase in Europe and a 13 percent surge in Asia thanks to a strong rebound in demand in China.

Overall revenue came in at 1.54 billion dollars compared to 1.52 billion dollars the prior year.

The company also managed to widen its net profit to 32 million dollars from 24 million dollars a year earlier.

Full-year sales up

Looking at the full year, Ralph Lauren’s sales came in at 6.44 billion dollars, up 4 percent on a reported basis and up 10 percent in constant currency.

That came as the company reported growth across markets, with North America up 2 percent, Europe up 3 percent, and Asia up 11 percent.

The company’s net profit for the year, however, narrowed to 523 million dollars from 600 million dollars the prior year.

Looking ahead, the company expects FY24 revenue to increase by low-single digits on a constant currency basis, while it expects its operating margin to expand by approximately 30 to 50 basis points in constant currency, driven by gross margin expansion.

Commenting on the results in a statement, CEO and president Patrice Louvet said: “We made strong progress in the first year of our Next Great Chapter: Accelerate plan, as our teams around the world executed exceptionally well through a highly dynamic global operating environment.

“Our Fiscal 2023 performance puts us on track with our investor day commitments. We continue to be on offense as we balance growth and operating discipline, investing in our brand while delivering strong shareholder returns.”

Ralph Lauren