Soft demand for Tommy Bahama looks and weaker traffic took a bite out of Oxford Industries Inc.’s first quarter.
Net earnings rose 16.9 percent to $20.2 million, or $1.21 a diluted share, from $17.3 million, or $1.29, a year earlier — although the comparison was helped by losses of $4.1 million from a discontinued business that dragged down the year-ago result. Factoring that out, profits slid 5.4 percent in the quarter.
And adjusted earnings from continuing operations tallied $1.26 a share, missing the $1.34 analysts had penciled in. That disappointed investors who drove the stock down 7.1 percent to $60.50 in after-hours trading.
Sales for the quarter ended April 30 slipped 1.6 percent to $256.2 million from $260.4 million.
“Clearly, our businesses were impacted by the well-publicized weakness in the retail environment, particularly in fashion apparel,” said Thomas C. Chubb 3rd, chairman and chief executive officer. “At Tommy Bahama, soft demand and reduced traffic in the marketplace were exacerbated by a year-over-year shift in the cadence of an important loyalty-card promotion from April to May. While April was weaker than we expected, we are encouraged by the strength Tommy Bahama has been exhibiting to date in the second quarter.”
Tommy Bahama’s sales fell 6 percent to $162.7 million, with a comparable-store sales decrease of 13 percent.
Chubb said the Lilly Pulitzer brand had a “very good” first quarter, with sales up 10 percent to $64.7 million.
Oxford has been broadening its offering, acquiring Southern Tide for $85 million in April.
For the second quarter, the company’s looking for adjusted earnings per share of $1.35 to $1.45, up from $1.32 a year ago. That forecast opens up some downside for Wall Street since analysts were already looking for earnings of $1.45 a share.