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“We once again delivered strong results despite considerable macroeconomic headwinds and challenges“ |
Fabrizio Freda President and Chief Executive Officer The Estée Lauder Companies |
USA. The Estée Lauder Companies has reported a decrease in net sales in travel retail for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2015.
The unspecified slide in one of Lauder’s most important divisions was attributed to the “impact of accelerated orders and softness of some key foreign currencies affecting the mix of travellers and their consumption”.
Excluding this impact, Estée Lauder said travel retail net sales had increased and the channel continues to benefit from new launch initiatives, an increase in global airline passenger traffic and expanded distribution.
Operating income in the EMEA region overall increased slightly, with higher operating results posted in the UK, the Middle East, France, Russia, India and Switzerland. Lower operating results were recorded primarily in travel retail, due to the accelerated orders, and Germany, according to the company.
Estée Lauder said the effect of the accelerated retailer orders unfavourably affected its overall fiscal 2014 fourth quarter performance, with net sales of US$2.52 billion, compared with $2.73 billion in the year-before period. Net earnings for the quarter were US$153.0 million, compared with US$257.7 million in Q4 2014.
For the full fiscal year, the company posted a -2% decrease in net sales, to US$10.78 billion, compared with US$10.97 billion in the prior year. Net earnings for the year wereUS$1.09 billion, compared with US$1.20 billion, and diluted net earnings per common share were US$2.82, compared with US$3.06 reported in the prior year.
Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, net sales increased +3% and diluted net earnings per common share were flat, the company said.
President and Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda said the group had finished the fiscal year with a strong fourth quarter. “One of the great strengths of our company is our ability to successfully execute our well-defined strategy,” he said. “This was clearly evident in fiscal 2015 as we once again delivered strong results despite considerable macroeconomic headwinds and challenges. For the full year, our adjusted +6% local currency sales growth met our expectations, and we exceeded our earnings per share forecast.”
Freda added: “Our sales grew at a faster rate than global prestige beauty, due to the success of our multiple engines of growth. Standout performances generated double-digit sales gains in most of our makeup and luxury brands and the online, specialty-multi and freestanding store channels.”
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