Net revenue at yoga inspired athletic apparel company; Lululemon Athletica drove up 13 per cent year over year in year ended February 1, 2015.
In a press release, Lululemon Athletica said that in fiscal 2014, net revenue surged 13 per cent to $1.8 billion from $1.6 billion in fiscal 2013, while comparable sales rose 3 per cent on a constant dollar basis.
Its corporate-owned stores open for at least one year averaged sales of $1,678 per square foot.
Direct to consumer net revenue too surged 22 per cent to $321.2 million, or 17.9 per cent of total revenue in fiscal 2014, an increase from 16.5 per cent of total net revenue in fiscal 2013.
Gross profit for fiscal 2014 rose slower by 9 per cent to $914.2 million, from $840.1 million in fiscal 2013, and as a percentage of net revenue was down to 50.9 per cent as against 52.8 per cent in fiscal 2013.
Income from operations declined by 4 per cent to $376.0 million compared to $391.4 million in fiscal 2013.
As a percentage of net revenue, income from operations decreased to 20.9 per cent in the reporting quarter from 24.6 per cent of net revenue in fiscal 2013.
Fiscal 2014 tax expense amounted to $144.1 million, which included $33.7 million related to the repatriation of foreign earnings that will be used to fund the share buyback program.
The tax rate excluding the $33.7 million tax expense on the repatriation of foreign earnings would have been 28.8 per cent compared to 29.6 per cent a year ago.
The tax rate for fiscal 2014, including the tax expense on the repatriation of foreign earnings, was 37.6 per cent.
Excluding the tax expense on the repatriation of foreign earnings, diluted earnings per share were $1.89 for fiscal 2014.
Including the tax expense on the repatriation of foreign earnings, diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2014 were $1.66, which included a $0.23 per share impact from the tax expense on the repatriation of foreign earnings.
During fiscal 2014, the Company repurchased 3.7 million shares of the Company's common stock at an average cost of $40.31 per share.
Lululemon Athletica ended fiscal 2014 with $664.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, down compared to $698.6 million at the end of fiscal 2013.
Inventory at the end of fiscal 2014 was $208.1 million compared to $188.8 million at the end of fiscal 2013 and the retailer ended the fiscal with 302 stores.
For fiscal 2015, Lululemon Athletica expects net revenue to be in the range of $1.970 billion to $2.020 billion based on a total comparable sales increase in the mid single digits on a constant dollar basis.
Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.85 to $1.90 for the full year. This guidance assumes 142.6 million diluted weighted-average shares outstanding and a 30.2 per cent tax rate.
