Guess returns to black in Q3, revenues miss

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Nov 27, 2019

U.S. fashion company Guess Inc. announced on Tuesday a return to profit for the third quarter, despite total revenues falling short of analysts' expectations.

The Los Angeles-based company reported a third-quarter earnings of $12.4 million, compared with a net loss of $13.4 million the comparable quarter a year earlier.

For the three months ending November 2, Guess recorded net revenues of $615.9 million, up 1.7%. However, the rise missed analysts' expectations of net revenue of $620.6 million for the three months.

By region, Americas retail revenue decreased 4.9% in U.S. dollars and 4.5% in constant currency, while retail comp sales including e-commerce decreased 3% in U.S. dollars. Domestic wholesale revenues increased 7% in U.S. dollars and 8.1% in constant currency.

Internationally, European revenues increased 9.1% in U.S. dollars (13.2% in constant currency) while Asian revenues fell 8% in U.S. dollars (4.6% in constant currency).

Licensing revenues decreased 0.3% in U.S. dollars, said Guess.

"Overall, the strength of our businesses in Europe, Americas wholesale and licensing, combined with a disciplined and effective approach to manage our costs, enabled us to more than offset softness in our Americas retail and Asia businesses in the quarter," said Carlos Alberini, chief executive officer of Guess.

"For the full year, we are maintaining the high-end of our guidance and raising the low-end. This speaks to the strength of our global brand and the power of our diversified business model which provides us with multiple levers to continue to increase revenues and improve profitability.”

Earnings were $0.18 a share, compared with a net loss of $0.17 a share in the prior year period. Adjusted earnings were $0.22 a share, up from $0.13 cents a share, said Guess. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $0.18 cents a share.

Guess said it expects net revenues to increase between 2.7% and 3% for the full-year, while annual earnings are predicted to weigh in at $1.20 to $1.25 per share.