The US lingerie provider Victoria’s Secret & Co. was able to exceed its own targets and analysts’ expectations in the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year. Management then raised its annual forecasts on Tuesday.
In the 13 weeks ending May 2, the parent company of the Victoria’s Secret, Pink and Adore Me brands posted sales of $1.56 billion (1.34 billion euros). This corresponded to an increase of 15.3 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Sales in brick-and-mortar stores in North America rose 11.3 percent to $802.8 million. In direct sales, it grew by 8.4 percent to $469.4 million.
Revenues in international business actually increased by 44.9 percent to $287.4 million, although this was due, among other things, to the fact that sales in the European Union markets, which had previously been managed in the direct sales segment, were now recorded in this area.
The laundry provider can more than triple its operating profit
Thanks to an improvement in gross margin, which the company said was achieved thanks in part to lower discounts and more efficient cost management, operating profit rose to $76.3 million. This was more than three times as high as in the same period last year, when it was only $19.8 million.
The bottom line was a net profit attributable to shareholders of 47.7 million US dollars (40.9 million euros). The group closed the first quarter of the previous year with a corresponding loss of almost 1.7 million US dollars.
CEO Hillary Super praises “strong start”
In view of the available figures, CEO Hillary Super spoke of a “strong start” to the new financial year and emphasized that the group was able to exceed its own expectations in terms of sales and profits. Double-digit growth in the brands Victoria’s Secret and Pink as well as in the cosmetics category contributed to this.
Recent developments and “ongoing momentum” prompted management to raise full-year guidance. The revenue target, which had previously been between $6.85 billion and $6.95 billion, was increased to $7.03 billion to $7.13 billion. The forecast for operating profit adjusted for special items is now between $550 and $580 million. So far only 430 to 460 million US dollars had been promised.