Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) today reported a GAAP net loss per diluted share of $0.23 for the second quarter ended July 29, 2017, compared to a GAAP net loss per diluted share of $0.19 for the second quarter last year. Excluding certain items, the company reported an adjusted non-GAAP net loss per diluted share of $0.16 for the quarter, compared to an adjusted non-GAAP net loss per diluted share of $0.25 last year. Year-over-year changes in foreign currency exchange rates did not have a meaningful impact on net loss per diluted share for the quarter.
Fran Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are encouraged by the clear progress across all brands. Through aggressive execution of our strategic plan, we delivered our third consecutive quarter of sequential comparable sales improvement. Hollister continues to build on its strong foundation, leveraging higher levels of customer engagement to drive growth across all touchpoints, and demonstrates how the customer responds when product, brand voice and brand experience are aligned. Abercrombie showed continued improvement in the areas we expected, as we brought better balance to the assortment throughout the quarter, and continued to apply the learnings from Hollister’s successes. Our focus remains on staying close to our customers and investing in our ability to meet their needs whenever, wherever and however they choose to engage with our brands.
While we expect the environment to remain challenging and promotional in the second half, we expect to see benefits from the continued improvement in product assortment, our strategic investments in marketing and omnichannel, and our ongoing efforts to optimize productivity across all channels. We are confident we are on the right path to deliver enhanced performance and long term shareholder value.”
Net sales for the second quarter were $779.3 million, down from $783.2 million last year, with comparable sales for the second quarter down 1%.
By brand, net sales for the second quarter increased 6% to $446.6 million for Hollister and decreased 8% to $332.7 million for Abercrombie over last year.
By geography, net sales for the second quarter decreased 2% to $470.3 million in the U.S. and increased 2% to $309.0 million in international markets over last year.
Direct-to-consumer sales grew to approximately 24% of total company net sales for the second quarter, compared to approximately 23% of total company net sales last year.
The gross profit rate for the second quarter was 59.1%, 160 basis points lower than last year on a constant currency basis, primarily due to lower average unit retail.
Stores and distribution expense for the second quarter was $369.3 million, down from $382.9 million last year, primarily due to expense reduction efforts, partially offset by higher direct-to-consumer expense.
more detail at: http://ir.abercrombie.com/anf/investors/investorrelations.html