The US clothing group American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) was able to slightly improve its sales in the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year. However, due to negative special effects, the profit was significantly lower than in the same period of the previous year. This emerges from an interim report that the company published on Wednesday evening.
Accordingly, group sales in the 13 weeks ended April 29 were $1.08 billion (1.01 billion euros), exceeding the level of the prior-year quarter by two percent. The group of companies owed the small plus to strong growth on the Aerie label, whose revenues increased by twelve percent to 359 million US dollars. However, sales of the main brand American Eagle shrank by two percent to 671 million US dollars.
Operating income fell 46 percent to $22.8 million due to impairments, restructuring costs and other one-time charges. Adjusted for special effects, it reached a height of 44.1 million US dollars, which meant an increase of five percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Reported net income fell 42 percent to $18.5 million.