Urban Outfitters' Profit Slips
August 17 2015 - 5:20PM
Dow Jones News
Urban Outfitters Inc.'s fiscal second-quarter profit edged down
as higher marketing and technology expenses eroded margins and
offset higher sales across brands.
Shares, down nearly 8% this year, rose nearly 6% to $34.05 in
late trading.
Discounts and sales promotions have helped retailers boost
sales, but they have also taken a toll on margins. In the latest
quarter, Urban Outfitters' gross margin narrowed to 36.7% from
37.4%, tied in part to its moving its wholesale and online
operations to Pennsylvania to speed up deliveries on the East
Coast.
The Philadelphia chain opened its first store in 1970 near the
University of Pennsylvania campus. It has grown into a
multinational clothing company with $3.32 billion in sales as of
Jan. 31, the end of its fiscal year. It expects to double sales by
2020.
In addition to its namesake brand, Urban Outfitters is the
parent company of Free People and Anthropologie Group, which
includes the Anthropologie, BHLDN and Terrain brands.
Overall, for the period ended July 31, Urban Outfitters reported
a profit of $66.8 million, compared with $67.5 million a year
earlier.
On a per-share basis, with 6.6% fewer shares outstanding for the
latest period, profit rose to 52 cents from 49 cents.
Sales, less returns, rose nearly 7% to $867.5 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of 49
cents a share on $881.2 million in sales.
Sales at stores open for at least a year, including online
sales, rose 4%. That included a 4% increase at its namesake brand,
an increase of 2% at Anthropologie and 14% at Free People. It is
the third consecutive quarter that all brands reported increases.
The namesake brand had ended the previous fiscal year with a 5.6%
decline.
Wholesale net sales, meanwhile, rose 21%.
Inventory rose by $22 million, or 6%, from a year earlier, as
the retailer entered the back-to-school shopping season.
Historically, the last five months of the year account for most
of Urban Outfitters' sales.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 17, 2015 17:05 ET (21:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024