Victoria’s Secret Sales Disappoint

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 12, 4:49AM EST · Published Jan 5, 6:40AM EST

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Victoria’s Secret Sales Disappoint — © Thinkstock

Concerns that Victoria’s Secret, a division of L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB), has lost some of its steaminess continued as its sales for the year were announced as part of disclosure of the company’s most recent numbers. Despite the brand’s nearly universal fame, it has been unable to build a new consumer base.

L Brands announced:

… net sales of $2.516 billion for the five weeks ended Dec. 30, 2017, an increase of 3 percent, compared to net sales of $2.438 billion for the five weeks ended Dec. 31, 2016. Comparable sales increased 1 percent for the five weeks ended Dec. 30, 2017.

The company reported net sales of $11.592 billion for the 48 weeks ended Dec. 30, 2017, compared to net sales of $11.769 billion for the 48 weeks ended Dec. 31, 2016. Comparable sales decreased 4 percent for the 48 weeks ended Dec. 30, 2017. For the 48 weeks ended Dec. 30, 2017, the exit of the swim and apparel categories had a negative impact of about 3 percentage points and 5 percentage points to total company and Victoria’s Secret comparable sales, respectively.

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The holiday is the most critical sales period for virtually every retailer, which makes the Victoria’s Secret numbers all the more depressing.

Victoria’s Secret has very few direct competitors. However, several large retailers are in the lingerie business. Each likely is chipping at Victoria’s Secret revenue. American Eagle Outfitters competes with its Aerie merchandise. The Gap has its GapBody line, which includes the Breathe Shop Intimates Collection. Hanes has its Bali brand of lingerie.

Victoria’s Secret likely remains the leader in lingerie sales. Its “Fashion Show” is clearly the industry’s premier event. However, without any question, it is slipping.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.