The US clothing retailer Levi Strauss & Co. has had a successful start to the 2021/22 financial year. On Wednesday, the denim specialist reported surprisingly significant growth in sales and earnings for the first quarter. The company also confirmed its forecast for the year.
For the three months ended February 27, Levi Strauss had sales of $1.59 billion. This corresponded to an increase of 22 percent (adjusted for currency effects +26 percent) compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The engine of growth was the American market, where sales increased by 26 percent (currency-adjusted +27 percent) to 766 million US dollars. Sales in Europe increased by 13 percent (+21 percent at constant currency) to $469 million and in Asia by 11 percent (+14 percent at constant currency) to $258 million.
The company was also able to make significant progress in terms of earnings: Levi Strauss explained that increased product costs were more than compensated for by the higher share of sales from own retail, price increases and the restriction of discounts. The reported net profit was 196 million US dollars (180 million euros) by 37 percent over the level of the same quarter last year. Adjusted for special items, net income rose 35 percent to $189 million.
In view of the figures available, management stuck to its annual forecasts. So it still expects sales to grow 11 to 13 percent to $6.4 to $6.5 billion. Adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.50 to $1.56. In the past fiscal year, it was $1.47.