Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) reported fiscal 2016 fourth-quarter and full-year results before markets opened Wednesday morning. The luxury lifestyle brand posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter of $0.98 and $1.2 billion in revenues. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.90 on revenue of $1.1 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.97 and $1.15 billion in revenue.
For the full year, Michael Kors reported EPS of $4.44 and revenues of $4.7 billion, up from 2015 EPS of $4.28 and revenues of $4.4 billion. Analysts had been looking for EPS of $4.42 and revenues of $4.66 billion.
Diluted quarterly EPS includes a $0.02 negative impact due to currency exchange rates. The full-year impact was $0.20 per share.
Global same-store sales for the quarter rose 0.3% year over year, and the company says it has opened 142 net new stores since the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. Total sales rose 22% year over year, and gross profit slipped from 58.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 58.2%. On a constant currency basis total sales rose 23.4% and same-store sales rose 1.5%.
Michael Kors Chairman and CEO John Idol said:
We … continued to make strategic investments in our business that will pay meaningful dividends for years to come. As these initiatives began to take hold, we ended the year on a strong note, with revenue and earnings per share ahead of our expectations in the fourth quarter, as well as for the full year. Looking ahead, we see multiple growth opportunities, including the expansion of our international markets, the growth of our digital e-commerce flagships, the build-out of our men’s business, the launch of Michael Kors ACCESS wearable technology line, and the continued design innovation of our luxury fashion product, which we believe will enable us to deliver sustainable earnings growth and continue to return value to our shareholders.
The company guided first-quarter fiscal 2017 revenue to $940 million to $950 million, assuming a decrease in same-store sales in the mid-single-digit range. Adjusted EPS is forecast at $0.70 to $0.74 for the quarter. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for first-quarter EPS of $0.94 on revenues of $1.03 billion.
For the 2017 fiscal year, Michael Kors expects revenues to be flat with the prior year and same-store sales to decline in the low-single-digit range. Adjusted EPS is forecast $4.56 to $4.64. The consensus estimates call for full-year EPS of $4.50 on revenues of $4.81 billion.
Michael Kors also announced Wednesday morning that it has completed the purchase of Michael Kors (HK) Ltd., the company’s exclusive licensee in China and certain other jurisdictions for $500 million in cash. The business generated total revenue of $197 million for the year ended March 31, 2016, and had a network of 91 company-operated retail stores and six travel retail locations across China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. For fiscal year 2017, Michael Kors expects the business to contribute approximately $200 million to retail net sales, reflecting sales for the ten month period following the closing of the acquisition.
The company’s better-than-expected EPS and revenues seem to outweigh the weak forecast. Investors appear willing to give the company time to make investments in the business in exchange for promises of dividends in the future.
Shares were up more than 4% in premarket trading, at $44.50 in a 52-week range of $34.83 to $59.49. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $56.43 before results were announced.
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