Michael Kors Q4 Profit Climbs, Results Top Estimates - Update

(RTTNews) - Luxury goods company Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS) Wednesday reported a sharp increase in fourth-quarter profit, as total revenues climbed about 54 percent with comparable store sales increase of 26.2 percent. Earnings per share, as well as revenues topped analysts' estimates.

The company said it saw significant revenue growth in each of its retail, wholesale and licensing segments as well as in both North American and international markets.

John Idol, chairman and chief executive officer of the company said, "We believe that our expanding global brand awareness is driving continued strong demand for our luxury product...Overall, we have great momentum as we head into fiscal 2015 and remain very excited about our growth prospects for next year and beyond."

For the fourth quarter ended March 29, 2014, the company's net income increased to $161.04 million or $0.78 per share from $101.10 million or $0.50 per share in the previous year.

On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.68 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Total revenue for the quarter climbed 53.6 percent to $917.45 million from $597.15 million in the year-ago quarter, and came above analysts' estimate of $816.15 million.

Quarterly retail net sales surged 49.7 percent to $408.4 million, driven by a 26.2 percent growth in comparable-store sales and 101 net new store openings since the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

Wholesale net sales grew 55.5 percent to $473.7 million and licensing revenue climbed 79.1 percent to $35.4 million.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2015, the firm expects earnings per share to be in the range of $0.78 to $0.80. Total revenues are expected to be in the range of $840 million to $850 million, assuming a comparable-store sales growth of around 20 percent.

Analysts project earnings per share of $0.79, on $826.05 million revenue for the first quarter.

For fiscal 2015, the company sees earnings per share to be in the range of $3.85 to $3.91. Total revenues for the year are anticipated to be between $4.0 billion and $4.1 billion, which assumes a comparable-store sales increase in the high teens.

Analysts anticipate earnings per share of $3.85, on revenue of $4.06 billion for the year.

As at March 29, 2014, the company operated 405 retail stores, including concessions, compared to 304 retail stores, including concessions, at the end of the same period last year. KORS is currently trading at $95.92, up 0.19 percent.