Guess sales rally on growth across all segments except Asia, adjusts full-year guidance

Guess Inc. announced on Wednesday sales increased 10% to $732.6 million, on growth across all segments except for the U.S. brand’s Asia region.

The Los Angeles-based company said Europe revenues increased 5% during the three months ending August 3, with regional retail comparable sales up 1%, while the firm’s Americas sales gained 8%, despite a 10% drop in retail comparable sales in the region, held up by a whopping 93% increase in wholesale revenues.

In Asia, revenues declined 8%, on a 14% plummet in retail comparables in the region.

Despite the positive sales growth, Guess swung to a net loss of $10.6 million during the quarter, compared to net earnings of $39 million for the same prior-year quarter.

“During the second quarter we delivered revenue growth of 10%, in line with our expectations. This performance was fueled by the Rag & Bone acquisition and strong wholesale performance in our Europe and Americas businesses. All our segments, except for Asia, delivered top-line growth,” said Carlos Alberini, chief executive officer, Guess Inc.

“Our bottom-line results reflect our decision to significantly increase our marketing investments compared to last year’s spend to support the international expansion of our brands, including our core Guess brand as well as the new additions to our portfolio – Guess Jeans and Rag & Bone.”

Looking ahead, Guess said it now predicts full-year revenues to grow between 9.5% and 11%.

“As we look into the second half of the year, we are adjusting our outlook for revenues and earnings to reflect the softer consumer environment,” said Albertini.

“As always, we will manage our costs and inventories carefully, while we continue to support the growth of our business, including investments in marketing, new stores and infrastructure. For us, this is a year of transformation and investment – a year when our business is further diversifying with new brands in our portfolio that have significant opportunities for growth and value creation.”