Vince revenues drop 47% in Q1

By

Robin Driver

Published
Jun 18, 2020

New York-based fashion group Vince Holding Corp announced its preliminary first-quarter financial results on Tuesday, reporting a 47.3% decline in net sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a significantly widened operating loss.

 
For the first quarter ended May 2, 2020, the company’s net sales totaled $39.0 million, down from $74.0 million in the prior-year period.
 
Sales at the group’s namesake Vince brand fell 47.7% to $28.8 million, reflecting a 60.8% decrease in the business’ wholesale revenues and a 34.9% decline in the direct-to-consumer segment.

At the company’s recently acquired Rebecca Taylor and Parker business, net sales decreased 45.8% to $10.2 million.
 
Vince’s preliminary operational loss for the quarter came to $21.9 million, compared to a loss of $6.2 million in the same period in the previous year.
 
“The momentum in the Vince brand full-price retail and e-commerce channels continued into February 2020,” said Vince CEO Brendan Hoffman in a release. “Beginning in March, at the onset of the Covid pandemic and subsequent temporary store closures, we had to respond quickly to the downturn in our business.”
 
The executive explained that the company’s focus has since shifted to cost reductions, as well as e-commerce operations. According to Hoffman, since the closure of its brick-and-mortar stores, the company has been proactive in its production of content for Instagram and other social media platforms in order to drive traffic to its e-commerce platform.
 
The group finished Q1 with 69 company-operated Vince and Rebecca Taylor stores, four more than in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The company has begun reopening these locations and currently has 10 stores in operation.  
 
Due to the uncertainty related to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vince did not provide financial guidance for fiscal 2020.