U.S. fashion and accessories brand Guess Inc. reported net revenues of USD 664.5 million for the second quarter, up 3 percent, on the back of surging revenues across its international business, especially in Asia.
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For the second quarter ending July 29, Guess Asia revenues increased 19 percent in U.S. dollars, while retail comp sales, including e-commerce, increased 2 percent in the region.
For the first six months of the year, Guess Asia revenues surged 23 percent. Retail comp sales, including e-commerce, increased 2 percent during the first half.
Elsewhere, Europe sales were up 9 percent and 6 percent for the quarter and first half, respectively, while the brand’s Americas region clocked declines in both the quarter and six-month period.
Guess licensing revenues were up by double digits in the second quarter and inched forward 1 percent in the first half.
The company recorded net earnings of USD 39 million, a 63 percent increase from USD 24 million for the same prior-year quarter.
“We are very pleased with our second quarter performance, which exceeded our expectations for top line growth and delivered a significant beat in operating earnings and earnings per share for the period,” said Carlos Alberini, chief executive officer.
“Our international businesses continued to perform strongly with robust revenue growth and our Americas retail business achieved a sequential improvement in performance compared to the first quarter, as we drove better customer conversion in stores. Most of our businesses delivered better-than-expected operating results, driven by solid revenue performance, strong gross margin results and effective cost management, which contributed to an operating profit of USD 65 million and a 9.7 percent operating margin for the period, well ahead of our expectations.”
For the six months, Guess recorded net earnings of USD 27.2 million, a 15 percent decrease from USD 31.9 million, in the prior-year period.