Vince breaks into profit thanks to solid sales gains

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 17, 2019

Vince Holding Corp. announced significant gains in the second quarter as it swung to a profit, boosted by strong cross-segment sales improvements and reduced expenses.

For the second quarter ended August 3, 2019, the New York-based luxury apparel company reported net income of $1.0 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $3.8 million, or $0.33 per share, in the same period in the previous year.

This improvement was driven principally by a net sales rise of 13.0%, with revenues totaling $71.4 million, compared to $63.1 million in the prior-year period.

The company’s wholesale and direct-to-consumer segments both posted double-digit sales increases of 14.7% and 10.6%, respectively. Wholesale revenues totaled $43.4 million, while the direct-to-consumer segment reported $28.0 million in sales.
 
Vince’s cross-company comparable sales, including e-commerce, increased 7.1%. The retailer ended the quarter with 60 company-operated stores, up from 58 at the end of the second quarter of 2018.
 
The company also managed to trim its selling, general, and administrative expenses to $32.8 million, or 45.9% of sales, in the period, down from 47.7% in Q2 2018.
 
“Our results are evidence that the multiple initiatives that we have been undertaking are coming together to deliver strong performance in all areas of the business,” said Vince CEO Brendan Hoffman in a release. “We are excited about the momentum in our business as we continue to make progress across our strategic initiatives which include driving global expansion across our retail, e-commerce and wholesale channels as well as increasing brand awareness globally.”
 
Looking at the first six months of fiscal 2019, Vince reported net sales of $126.5 million in the first half of the year, compared to $117.6 million in the prior-year period. The company’s year-to-date net loss of $6.0 million, or $0.51 per share, also represented an improvement from the loss of $9.5 million, or $0.81 per share, reported in the first half of 2018.  
 
In line with its improved second-quarter and first-half sales and earnings, Vince announced that it has raised its full-year 2019 outlook and now expects to achieve net sales of between $295 million and $305 million.

Following the report of the company's Q2 results, shares in Vince shot up more than 15% in after-hours trading.