The US fashion group Guess Inc. was able to improve its sales in the 2022/23 financial year, but had to accept a drop in profit. The forecasts for the current year, which the company published on Tuesday evening together with the current results, were rather cautious.
For the fiscal year that ended January 28, Group sales were $2.69 billion (EUR 2.55 billion), up four percent from the prior year. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, sales even grew by twelve percent.
Business in America was mixed: At 758.1 million US dollars, retail sales there were slightly below the previous year’s value (-0.1 percent), in wholesale sales rose by two percent to 206.2 million US dollars. Things looked better in Europe, where sales increased by six percent to 1.38 billion US dollars. In Asia, revenues increased by 1 percent to 238.8 million US dollars, worldwide license revenues grew by 7 percent to 103.4 million US dollars.
Higher costs and value adjustments, however, ensured that operating profit slipped 18.6 percent to 248.2 million US dollars. Net income attributable to shareholders fell 12.7 percent to $149.6 million.
For the current financial year 2023/24, the management now expects sales growth of 1.0 to 3.0 percent. Diluted earnings per share, which reached $2.16 last year, are expected to be in the range of $2.08 to $2.36.