Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) today announced results for the second quarter ended July 30, 2022. These compare to results for the second quarter ended July 31, 2021. Descriptions of the use of non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures accompany this release.
Fran Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer, said “As the global macro environment deteriorated in the second quarter, we experienced a divergence in brand performance. Abercrombie delivered its highest Q2 sales since 2015 and its ninth consecutive quarter of average unit retail (“AUR”) growth. This was more than offset by Hollister, where we saw a greater than anticipated impact from inflation and a shift away from core categories to more fashion-driven product, contributing to lower-than-expected conversion and basket size.
We expect macro headwinds to persist and have taken action to adjust receipts across brands to fuel winning categories for late fall and holiday. In addition, we have right-sized the Hollister inventory receipt plan for holiday and beyond. Looking ahead, we will continue to monitor sales volumes and react with agility to ensure inventory turns appropriately, and we expect year-over-year inventory growth to have peaked in Q2 and to moderate significantly in the back half as we lap late receipts from last year.
A summary of results for the second quarter ended July 30, 2022 as compared to the second quarter ended July 31, 2021:
*Net sales of $805 million, down 7% as compared to last year on a reported basis and down 4% on a constant currency basis.
*Gross profit rate of 57.9%, down approximately 730 basis points as compared to last year. The year-over-year decrease was primarily driven by higher product costs, which contributed 750 basis points, and the adverse impact of exchange rates, which accounted for 30 basis points. These impacts where partially offset by higher AUR at Abercrombie.
*Operating expense, excluding other operating income, net, was up 4% compared to last year. The increase was driven primarily by inflation and higher digital fulfillment expenses partially offset by lower incentive-based compensation. Operating expense as a percentage of sales increased to 58.0% from 52.1% last year.
*Operating loss of $2 million and $0 million on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively, as compared to operating income of $115 million and $116 million last year, on a reported and adjusted non-GAAP basis, respectively.
details at: https://corporate.abercrombie.com/investors/newsevents/press-releases