The US clothing group VF Corporation exceeded market expectations in the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The parent company of brands like The North Face, Vans and Timberland posted surprising gains in sales and profit. This emerges from current results that the company presented on Tuesday.
CEO Bracken Darrell was pleased with the business development. “In the second quarter, we made further progress on our turnaround plan,” he said in a statement. “We delivered broad-based gains in The North Face and Timberland while continuing to slow declines in Vans.”
The CEO also referred to the sale of the Dickies brand to Bluestar Alliance for $600 million, which was agreed in mid-September. Through this transaction, VF improves its chances of “investing in the portfolio and increasing shareholder returns,” emphasized Darrell. Looking ahead, management will “continue to focus on generating value across all brands and returning the company to sustainable and profitable growth.”
Quarterly sales increase by two percent
In the most recent quarter, which ended at the end of September, consolidated sales amounted to 2.80 billion US dollars (2.40 billion euros), exceeding the corresponding previous year’s level by two percent. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, revenue fell by one percent, but was above the expectations of analysts, who had forecast a decline of two to four percent.
The surprisingly positive sales development was primarily due to growth in the brands The North Face (+6 percent) and Timberland (+7 percent). The sales of the Vans label, which has been struggling for a long time, were nine percent below the level of the previous year’s quarter. Total sales of the group’s smaller brands rose by two percent, not least thanks to the strong growth of the Altra label (+35 percent).
The group is making further progress in terms of operating results
The group also made unexpectedly strong progress in terms of earnings. Operating profit adjusted for special items rose by five percent to $330.1 million. In advance, management had only promised $260 to 290 million.
The reported net profit, which was 52.2 million euros in the same quarter of the previous year, jumped to 189.8 million US dollars (162.7 million euros). However, in the same period last year, high losses from the Supreme brand, which has since been sold, had a negative impact on earnings. Quarterly profit from continuing operations fell by six percent due to higher tax burdens.