L Brands full-year sales climb, outlook still bleak

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Mar 1, 2018

US apparel firm L Brands, known for its Victoria's Secret, Pink, and Bath & Body Works brands, reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year results on Wednesday, but still issued a disappointing guidance for its first quarter.

 
The Columbus-based retailer reported net sales of $12.632 billion for the full year ended February 3, 2018, up from $12.574 billion. Still comparable sales decreased 3 percent. The company again blamed the fall on its Victoria’s Secret brand, which has been hit by its exit from its swim and apparel categories.
 
For the year, by brand, both Victoria's Secret and L Brands reported a sales decrease of 8 and 3 percent respectively, while Bath & Body Works sales rose 3 percent.

Meanwhile, net income dropped to $983.0 million compared to $1.158 billion last year.  
 
Despite a difficult sales month in December and following strong January sales, the company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, reporting net sales of $4.823 billion for the 14-week period, as well as a comparable sales increase of 2 percent.
 
By brand, in its fourth quarter, Victoria's Secret sales decreased by 1 percent, while L Brands sales rose 2 percent and Bath & Body Works by 6 percent.
 
Looking ahead, the company currently expects 2018 full-year earnings per share to be between $2.95 and $3.25, including earnings per share between $0.15 and $0.20 in the first quarter.