Bay Street News

L Brands Reports October 2018 Sales; Updates Third Quarter Earnings Guidance

Declares December 2018 Dividend

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — L Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LB) reported net sales of $860.5 million for the four weeks ended Nov. 3, 2018, an increase of 8 percent, compared to net sales of $794.1 million for the four weeks ended Oct. 28, 2017.  Comparable sales increased 4 percent for the four weeks ended Nov. 3, 2018 compared to Nov. 4, 2017.  

The company reported net sales of $2.775 billion for the 13 weeks ended Nov. 3, 2018, an increase of 6 percent, compared to net sales of $2.618 billion for the 13 weeks ended Oct. 28, 2017.  Comparable sales increased 4 percent for the 13 weeks ended Nov. 3, 2018 compared to the 13 weeks ended Nov. 4, 2017. 

The company reported net sales of $8.385 billion for the 39 weeks ended Nov. 3, 2018, an increase of 7 percent, compared to net sales of $7.809 billion for the 39 weeks ended Oct. 28, 2017.  Comparable sales increased 3 percent for the 39 weeks ended Nov. 3, 2018 compared to the 39 weeks ended Nov. 4, 2017. 

The company expects to report a third quarter loss per share of approximately $0.17.  The reported loss per share includes a total charge of approximately $0.32 per share, which consists of an approximate pretax cash charge of $20 million related to the closure of its Henri Bendel business, and an approximate pretax non-cash impairment charge of $80 million related to certain Victoria’s Secret store assets.  Excluding these charges, the company expects adjusted third quarter earnings per share to be approximately $0.15, compared to its previous guidance of $0.00 to $0.05, principally driven by outperformance at Bath & Body Works.  The company will conduct its third quarter earnings call at 9 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 20.

Dividend
The company also announced the declaration of its regular quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share payable on Dec. 7, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 23, 2018.  This is the company’s 176th consecutive quarterly dividend.

To hear further commentary provided on L Brands’ prerecorded October sales message, call 1-866-639-7583, or log onto www.LB.com for an audio replay. 

ABOUT L BRANDS:
L Brands, through Victoria’s Secret, PINK, Bath & Body Works, La Senza and Henri Bendel, is an international company.  The company operates 3,109 company-owned specialty stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Greater China, and its brands are sold in more than 800 additional franchised locations worldwide.  The company’s products are also available online at www.VictoriasSecret.com, www.BathandBodyWorks.com, www.HenriBendel.com and www.LaSenza.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

We caution that any forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) contained in this press release or the October sales call or made by our company or our management involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, our future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Words such as “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “planned,” “potential” and any similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Risks associated with the following factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could affect our financial performance and actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements included in this press release or the October sales call or otherwise made by our company or our management:

We are not under any obligation and do not intend to make publicly available any update or other revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the October sales call to reflect circumstances existing after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of future events even if experience or future events make it clear that any expected results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements will not be realized. Additional information regarding these and other factors can be found in Item 1A. Risk Factors in our 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

For further information, please contact:                               

L Brands:  
Investor Relations Media Relations 
Amie Preston Tammy Roberts Myers 
(614) 415-6704 (614) 415-7072 
apreston@lb.com communications@lb.com

L BRANDS
OCTOBER 2018
 
Comparable Sales Increase (Decrease) (Stores and Direct):
  Oct.
2018
   

 

Oct.
2017

   

Third
Quarter
2018

   

Third
Quarter
2017

  Year-
to-
Date
2018
  Year-
to-
Date
2017
                       
Victoria’s Secret1 0 %   1 %   (2 %)   (4 %)   (1 %)   (11 %)
Bath & Body Works1 11 %   5 %   13 %   4 %   10 %   4 %
L Brands2  4 %    2 %    4 %    (1 %)    3 %    (6 %)

1 – Results include company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada and direct sales.
2 – Results include company-owned stores in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Greater China and direct sales.

 
Comparable Sales Increase (Decrease) (Stores Only):
                       
   

 

Oct.
2018

   

 

Oct.
2017

   

Third
Quarter
2018

   

Third
Quarter
2017

  Year-
to-
Date
2018
  Year-
to-
Date
2017
                       
Victoria’s Secret1 (7 %)   (4 %)   (6 %)   (5 %)   (5 %)   (9 %)
Bath & Body Works1 7 %   2 %   10 %   1 %   8 %   1 %
L Brands2 (1 %)   (2 %)    0 %    (3 %)    (1 %)    (6 %)

1 – Results include company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada.
2 – Results include company-owned stores in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Greater China.

 
Total Sales (Millions):
               
   

Third
Quarter
 2018

   

Third
Quarter
 2017

  Year-
to-
Date
 2018
  Year-
to-
Date
 2017
               
Victoria’s Secret1 $ 1,177.8   $ 1,243.0   $ 3,778.4   $ 3,840.6
Victoria’s Secret Direct   351.0     295.9     1,064.6     877.7
  Total Victoria’s Secret $ 1,528.8   $ 1,538.9   $ 4,843.0   $ 4,718.3
Bath & Body Works1 $ 808.3   $ 703.1   $ 2,281.1   $ 2,044.6
Bath & Body Works Direct   147.9      112.7      399.1      309.6
  Total Bath & Body Works $ 956.2   $ 815.8   $ 2,680.2   $ 2,354.2
VS & BBW International2 $   134.0   $   114.9   $   414.6   $   332.1
Other $ 155.9   $ 148.2   $ 446.8   $ 404.7
L Brands $ 2,774.9   $ 2,617.8   $ 8,384.6   $ 7,809.3

1 – Results include company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada.
2 – Results include retail sales from company-owned stores outside of the U.S. and Canada, royalties associated with franchised stores and wholesale sales.

           
Total Company-Owned Stores:          
           
    Stores
Operating
    Stores
Operating
    at 2/3/18 Opened   Closed at 11/3/18
           
Victoria’s Secret U.S.   984 1 (7 ) 978
PINK U.S.   140   140
Victoria’s Secret Canada   39   39
PINK Canada   7 (1 ) 6
  Total Victoria’s Secret   1,170 1 (8 ) 1,163
           
Bath & Body Works U.S.   1,592 47 (17 ) 1,622
Bath & Body Works Canada    102 1   103
  Total Bath & Body Works   1,694 48 (17 ) 1,725
           
Victoria’s Secret U.K./Ireland   19 1   20
PINK U.K.   5   5
Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Accessories   29 4 (3 ) 30
Victoria’s Secret China   7 7   14
  Total International   60 12 (3 ) 69
           
Henri Bendel   27 (4 ) 23
La Senza U.S.   5 6   11
La Senza Canada   119 (1 ) 118
Total L Brands Stores   3,075 67 (33 ) 3,109

Total Noncompany-Owned Stores:          
       

 

   
    Stores
Operating
Stores
Operating
    at 2/3/18 Opened   Closed At 11/3/18
           
Victoria’s Secret Beauty & Accessories – Travel Retail   156 21 (7 ) 170
Bath & Body Works – Travel Retail   9 3 (2 ) 10
Victoria’s Secret Beauty & Accessories   241 4 (18 ) 227
Victoria’s Secret   32 10   42
PINK   5 3   8
Bath & Body Works   176 32 (2 ) 206
La Senza   194 2 (10 ) 186
Total    813 75 (39 ) 849