Kate Spade Beats Q1 Expectations

reported upbeat results for the first quarter. The New York-based company posted a quarterly loss of $55.2 million, or $0.43 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $46.2 million, or $0.37 per share. Excluding items, the company earned $0.03 per share. Its sales rose to $255.3 million from $223.6 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.02 per share on revenue of $244.88 million. The average estimate among 8 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.02 per share and revenue of $239.06 million. Kate Spade North America sales climbed 19.4 percent to $196 million, while Kate Spade International sales slipped 1.7 percent to $52 million. Adelington Design Group net sales climbed 12 percent to $7 million. Same-store sales climbed 9 percent. Its gross margin shrank to 60.6 percent from 61.2 percent. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose to $192 million, from $164 million. Craig A. Leavitt, Chief Executive Officer of Kate Spade & Company, said, "This quarter, our overall performance reflects positive momentum across our four category pillars – women's, men's, children's and home – with a pro-forma net sales increase of 28% and direct-to-consumer comparable sales growth of 9%. Our channel-agnostic approach and emphasis on improving quality of sale continue to drive brand awareness, customer engagement and product demand." The company affirmed its FY15 outlook. Kate Spade shares fell 0.18 percent to $32.50 in pre-market trading.