4:40 AM A bank ascoe ralph Lauren |
| A bank ascoe ralph Lauren 'great quarter
Earnings surgeAt jos.A bank 'great quarter, great year, 'AnAnalyst declaresjos.A.Bank clothiers inc. reported fourth quarter operating earnings yesterday http://www.ascoe.it/ that were 160 percent higher thanA yearAgo. Earnings per shareAlso jumped 138 percentAccording toAn earnings statement released by the company.
The hampstead based marketer of tailored and casual clothing said earnings from continuing operations were $1.3 million, or 19 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Jan.31, compared with a profit of $500, 000, or 8 cents per share, in the year earlier quarter.
"Great quarter, great year,"Said davenport co.Analyst kenneth gassman of richmond, va., in a conference call with top company officials yesterday.
The 1997 numbers excluded a one time charge of $1.5 million dealing with the company's planned sale of its manufacturing operation and to account for the operating losses generated by that unit.With this charge factored in, the company would have reported a net loss of $300, 000, or 4 cents per share, for the fourth quarter.
However, analysts typically look at the performance of a company's"Continuing"Operations, since those are the businesses that will carry the company forward.
During the fourth quarter, jos.A.Pietrafesa lp, the maker of polo by ralph lauren tailored clothing. The factories consist ofA sewing plant on West NorthAvenueAndA cutting room on Brookhill Road in Northwest Baltimore.The sale is expected to close very soon, the company said.
For the year, bank said it earned $2.5 million, or 36 cents per share, from continuing operations, compared with $700, 000, or 10 cents a share, reported for 1996.With the $1.5 million charge, earnings would have been flat with the company reporting earnings of $700, 0000, or 10 cents a share, for the full year 1997.The per share earnings of 36 cents for the year beat the sole posted estimate of 30 cents a share, according to nelson's, an earnings advisory service.Company officials said they were very comfortable with analysts' earnings estimates of 50 cents to 55 cents a share for the fiscal year that will end jan.31.
That would represent a profit jump of 39 percent, a growth rate more than twice the company's leading price/earnings(P/e)Ratio of about 15.A leading p/e is a ratio of a company's stock price to its forecasted earnings and is one way analysts gauge how fairly a company's stock is valued by investors.
Bank's sales in the fourth quarter jumped 11.3 percent, to $52.5 million, from $47.1 million in 1996.Sales for the whole year rose 12.4 percent, to $172.2 million, compared with $153.2 million the year before.
Same store sales an important measure of a retailer's health leaped 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter and 4.1 percent in the year.Those figures do not include sales from eight new stores opened in existing markets last year.
"We are thrilled by this year's results and the success of the new stores we opened this year,"Said timothy f.Finley, chairman and chief executive officer.
The company said it plans to ralph lauren online shop open 65 stores in the next three years some of them relocations including 17 stores this year.
By divesting its manufacturing operations, bank is embracingA business model more like that of some of theAthletic shoe companies:It outsources productionAnd concentrates on designingAnd marketing products its real expertise.That model has worked extremely well for companies suchAs Nike inc.JustAs the"Nike"Name is the strength of its brand, so, too, is the jos.A.Bank name. Using its resources to market that brand name instead of having fo focus on manufacturing issues was the correct step to take, FinleyAnd Chief Financial Officer David E. Ullman said inAn interview yesterday.
As recently as four years ago, bank's factories made all its tailored clothing.In 1997, the company's factories made about 35 percent to 40 percent of its clothing.
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