LOS ANGELES, Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES) today reported financial results for its second quarter ended July 28, 2012. 

Second Quarter Fiscal 2013 Highlights

• Asian revenues increased 26% in constant dollars; up 21% in U.S. dollars
• North American Retail revenues decreased 3%; retail comp sales declined 8.5%
• European revenues decreased 2% in local currency; declined 15% in U.S. dollars  
• Adjusted operating earnings decreased 49% and adjusted operating margin declined 770 basis points to 9.0%; GAAP operating earnings decreased 39% and GAAP operating margin declined 480 basis points
• Invested $140 million to repurchase 5 million shares

This press release contains certain non-GAAP, or adjusted, financial measures, which exclude a settlement charge incurred during the second quarter of fiscal 2012. A reconciliation of reported GAAP results to comparable non-GAAP results is provided in the accompanying tables and discussed under the heading "Presentation of Non-GAAP Information" below.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results

For the second quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company generated net earnings of $42.9 million, a 45.2% decrease compared to adjusted net earnings of $78.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2012.  The prior-year adjusted net earnings excludes a settlement charge of $19.5 million ($17.6 million net of the related tax impact) associated with the settlement of the Company's relationship with one of its former European service providers.  Diluted earnings per share decreased 41.7%, to $0.49, compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.84 for the prior-year quarter.  On a GAAP basis, second quarter fiscal 2013 net earnings decreased 29.3% and diluted earnings per share decreased 24.6%. 

Paul Marciano, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The second quarter was both rewarding and challenging for us.  While store traffic remained down in North America, our strategy to elevate our women's business appears to be working.  We are now focused on driving improvements in accessories, which has become increasingly competitive, and are also developing plans to refine our North American strategy where necessary to remain competitive.  Our European business remained stable, as we grew in newer markets in the north and east, while economic conditions continued to affect consumers, particularly in the south.  We also posted solid double digit growth in Asia and China has continued to exceed our expectations."

Mr. Marciano continued, "We are committed to developing the long-term global potential of the Guess? brand.  We will continue to manage our business prudently, focusing carefully on those things that are within our direct control.  While our initiatives may take longer than we had expected and the market place remains uncertain, we will continue to focus on providing a great customer experience and innovative products supported by our new and targeted marketing efforts.  With our strong financial position and cash generation power, our goal is to continue to deliver balanced returns to our shareholders – through growth of newer markets and concepts as well as through our dividend and share repurchase programs."

Total net revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 decreased 6.2% to $635.4 million, from $677.2 million in the prior-year quarter.  In constant dollars, total net revenue increased 0.4%. 

• The Company's retail stores in North America generated revenue of $253.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, a 3.1% decrease from $261.1 million in the same period a year ago.  Comparable store sales decreased 7.5% in local currency and 8.5% in U.S. dollars for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to the same period a year ago.  The Company directly operated 511 retail stores in the United States and Canada at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2013 versus 490 stores a year earlier.
• Net revenue from the Company's Europe segment decreased 14.5% to $246.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to $288.8 million in the prior-year period.  In local currency, net revenue decreased 1.9%.
• Net revenue from the Company's Asia segment increased 20.9% to $66.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, from $55.3 million in the prior-year period.  In constant dollars, net revenue increased 26.2%.
• Net revenue from the Company's North American Wholesale segment decreased 5.1% to $41.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, from $43.9 million in the prior-year period.
• Licensing segment net revenue decreased 4.0% to $27.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, from $28.1 million in the prior-year period.

Operating earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 decreased 49.3% to $57.3 million (including a $5.2 million unfavorable currency translation impact) from adjusted operating earnings of $113.0 million in the prior-year period.  Operating margin in the second quarter declined 770 basis points to 9.0%, compared to adjusted operating margin of 16.7% in the prior-year quarter.  The lower operating margin primarily reflects the impact of negative same store sales on the Company's fixed cost structure, higher occupancy and selling costs in Europe due to retail expansion, increased investments in advertising and marketing and a bad debt provision related to its Greek distributor.  In addition, product margins were lower, primarily in Europe, resulting mainly from the effect of a weaker euro.  On a GAAP basis, operating earnings decreased 38.7% and operating margin declined 480 basis points.

Other net income, which primarily includes net unrealized mark-to-market gains on foreign currency contracts and balances, partially offset by net unrealized losses on non-operating assets, was $5.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to other net income of $2.7 million in the prior-year quarter.

The Company's reported effective tax rate decreased to 32.0% in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, from 35.8% for the second quarter of the prior year.  The decrease mainly reflects the impact of the settlement charge in the prior-year period which increased the prior-year effective tax rate by 440 basis points.

Six-Month Period Results

Net earnings for the six months ended July 28, 2012 were $69.5 million, a decrease of 42.5% compared to adjusted net earnings of $121.0 million for the six months ended July 30, 2011.  Diluted earnings per share declined 40.0% to $0.78 per share in the first six months of the 2013 fiscal year compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.30 in the comparable six-month period last year.  On a GAAP basis, for the first six months of fiscal 2013, net earnings decreased 32.7% and diluted earnings per share decreased 29.7%.

Total net revenue for the first six months of fiscal 2013 decreased 4.3% to $1.21 billion from $1.27 billion in the prior-year period.  In constant dollars, total net revenue increased 0.2%.

• The Company's retail stores in North America generated revenue of $504.8 million in the first six months of fiscal 2013, a 0.7% decrease from $508.5 million in the same period a year ago.  Comparable store sales decreased 6.3% in local currency and 7.1% in U.S. dollars for the six months ended July 28, 2012, compared to the six months ended July 30, 2011.
• Net revenue from the Company's Europe segment decreased 12.5% to $436.7 million in the first six months of fiscal 2013, compared to $499.0 million in the prior-year period.  In local currency, Europe segment revenues decreased 3.1%. 
• Net revenue from the Company's Asia segment increased 14.1% to $131.7 million in the first six months of fiscal 2013, compared to $115.4 million in the prior-year period.  In constant dollars the increase was 17.0%.
• Net revenue from the Company's North American Wholesale segment decreased 4.4% to $85.5 million in the first six months of fiscal 2013, from $89.5 million in the prior-year period.
• Licensing segment net revenue decreased 1.9% to $55.9 million in the first six months of fiscal 2013, from $57.0 million in the prior-year period.

Operating earnings for the first six months of fiscal 2013 decreased 47.6% to $96.4 million (including a $6.1 million unfavorable currency translation impact) from adjusted operating earnings of $183.9 million in the prior-year period.  Operating margin for the first six months of fiscal 2013 declined 660 basis points to 7.9% compared to adjusted operating margin of 14.5% in the prior-year period.  The decline in operating margin primarily reflects the impact of negative same store sales on the Company's fixed cost structure, higher occupancy, selling and distribution costs in Europe and increased investments in advertising and marketing.  Product margins for the year-to-date period were slightly lower compared to the prior-year period.  GAAP operating earnings decreased 41.4% and GAAP operating margin declined 510 basis points.

Other net income, which primarily includes net unrealized mark-to-market gains on foreign currency contracts and balances, and net unrealized gains on non-operating assets, was $6.0 million for the first six months of fiscal 2013.  This compares to other net expense of $7.3 million in the prior-year period. 

The Company's effective tax rate was 32.0% for the first six months of fiscal 2013, compared to 33.4% in the prior-year period.

Outlook

The Company's expectations for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 ending October 27, 2012, are as follows:

• Consolidated net revenues are expected to range from $620 million to $630 million.
• Operating margin is expected to be between 9.0% and 9.5%.
• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.42 to $0.46.

The Company updated its outlook for the fiscal year ending February 2, 2013, which is now as follows:

• Consolidated net revenues are expected to range from $2.62 billion to $2.65 billion.
• Operating margin is expected to be between 10.5% and 11.0%.
• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.30.

Capital Structure and Dividends

During the second quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company repurchased 5.0 million shares of its common stock at an average purchase price of $27.82, totaling $140.1 million.  The Company currently has $518 million available under existing share repurchase authorizations.  The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share on the Company's common stock.  The dividend will be payable on September 21, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 5, 2012.  Finally, the Company is currently working with its global banking partners to exercise the accordion feature of its existing credit facility to increase its capacity.  As of July 28, 2012, there were no direct borrowings and approximately $1.3 million of letters of credit outstanding under this credit facility.

Presentation of Non-GAAP Information

The financial information presented in this release includes both GAAP and non-GAAP measures.  The "non-GAAP" or "adjusted" financial measures exclude the impact of a settlement charge incurred during the second quarter of fiscal 2012. In July 2011, the Company experienced a temporary disruption in its European supply chain, related to one of its service providers.  The Company subsequently entered into an agreement to terminate the relationship with that provider, resulting in a $19.5 million settlement charge in the second quarter of fiscal 2012.

The Company has excluded this settlement charge, and related tax impact, from its adjusted financial measures primarily because it does not believe such charge reflects the Company's ongoing operating results or future outlook.  The Company believes that these adjusted financial measures are useful as an additional means for investors to evaluate the comparability of the Company's operating results when reviewed in conjunction with the Company's GAAP financial statements.  A reconciliation of reported GAAP results to comparable non-GAAP results is provided in the accompanying tables. The non-GAAP measures are provided in addition to, and not as alternatives for, the Company's reported GAAP results. 

This release also includes certain constant currency financial information.  Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations affect the amount reported from translating the Company's foreign revenues and expenses into U.S. dollars.  These rate fluctuations can have a significant effect on reported operating results under GAAP. The Company provides constant currency information to help investors assess how our businesses performed excluding the effects of changes in foreign currency translation rates. To calculate revenues and earnings from operations on a constant currency basis, operating results for the current year period for entities reporting in currencies other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars at the average exchange rates in effect during the comparable period of the prior year. The constant currency calculations do not adjust for the impact of revaluing specific transactions denominated in a currency that is different to the functional currency of that entity when exchange rates fluctuate.  The constant currency information presented may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. 

Investor Conference Call

The Company will hold a conference call at 4:30 pm (ET) on August 22, 2012 to discuss the news announced in this press release.  A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible at www.guess.com via the "Investor Relations" link.  The webcast will be archived on the website for 30 days.

About Guess?

Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes and licenses a lifestyle collection of contemporary apparel, denim, handbags, watches, footwear and other related consumer products.  Guess? products are distributed through branded Guess? stores as well as better department and specialty stores around the world.  As of July 28, 2012, the Company directly operated 511 retail stores in the United States and Canada and 300 retail stores in Europe, Asia and Latin America.  The Company's licensees and distributors operated an additional 815 retail stores outside of the United States and Canada. For more information about the Company, please visit www.guess.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Except for historical information contained herein, certain matters discussed in this press release, including statements concerning the Company's short and long-term future prospects, guidance for the third quarter and full year of fiscal 2013 and plans to exercise the accordion feature of its existing credit facility, are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are only expectations, and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from what is currently anticipated.  Factors which may cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, domestic and international economic conditions, including economic and other events that could negatively impact consumer confidence and discretionary consumer spending and result in increasingly difficult competitive conditions; our ability to, among other things, anticipate consumer preferences, protect our brand, effectively operate our various retail concepts, effectively manage inventories and successfully execute our strategies, including our supply chain and international growth strategies; unexpected obligations arising from litigation and other regulatory proceedings, including tax proceedings; changes in the financial markets; and changes in economic, political, social and other conditions affecting our foreign operations, including currency fluctuations, global tax rates and the current European economic crisis.  In addition to these factors, the economic, technological, managerial, and other risks identified in the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors discussed therein, could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Source: Guess?, Inc.

SOURCE Guess?, Inc.