A&F Performance Loss In Crisis Hollister Brand Now Signs Of Improvement

The revival of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF), a young apparel retailer in the US, was strongly impacted by the appreciation of the US dollar. The losses in the first quarter increased to a level far beyond market expectations.

However, the group's expected performance indicators will be improved in the two quarter and the second half of the year. The shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) rose by 11.7% on Thursday, the highest gain in 15 months.

In the first quarter of May 2nd, the group net loss increased sharply from $23 million 700 thousand a year earlier to $63 million 200 thousand, and the loss per share rose from $0.32 to $0.91. Excluding some items, the adjusted loss per share was $0.53, of which the exchange rate fluctuated by 0.13 US dollars, and the market expected a loss of 0.35 US dollars per share.

Net sales fell 13.7% to 709 million 400 thousand US dollars compared to the same period last year, less than the US $730 million 900 thousand of the market expectations, which was 822 million 400 thousand US dollars in the same period last year. The negative impact of exchange rate fluctuations was 6%, while the same store sales fell 8%, better than the 8.7% of the market forecast and 10% of the four quarter.

Sales in the US market fell 11% to 448 million 900 thousand dollars, while same store sales fell 7%; international market sales fell 18% to 260 million 500 thousand dollars, while same store sales fell 9%.

By brand,

Brand sales decreased by 12% to $340 million a year.

The decline was 9%; Hollister brand sales decreased by 12% to $367 million, while same store sales fell 6%, much lower than the 8.7% expected in the market and 11% in the four quarter, mainly due to the same store sales growth in Asia and the improvement in European performance.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. executive chairman

In the earnings report, because the restructuring of the group and brand is still in its initial stage, "we have anticipated that the first quarter will be very difficult", but the group can see that Hollister brand and same store sales have continued to improve actively until May, making investors expect the brand to lead the whole group out of the mire.

Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., has not been able to find a suitable successor since last 12.

The group tends to select from within, candidates include chief operating officer Jonathan Ramsden, Abercrombie brand president and Hollister brand President Fran Horowitz. At present, they are in the stage of friendly cooperation and benign competition. The group has also hired headhunting company Spencer Stuart to look for candidates from outside.

Gross profit margin was 58% in the first quarter, 420 basis points lower than the same period last year. After excluding some items, gross margin was calculated at fixed exchange rate of 61.8%, an increase of 70 basis points over the same period last year.

Gross profit in the quarter included $26 million 900 thousand in stock writedowns, mainly because the group changed its sexy marketing strategy, and accelerated the clearance of old stock after reforming its brand positioning and product mix. For that reason, there will be a write down of $2 million in the two quarter.

Brand restructuring at the same time Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is also actively developing multi-channel sales. Following the Abercrombie brand landing in the UK's largest fashion business ASOS PLC (ASC.L), Hollister brand will also be on sale at this website this season.