Guess Q1 sales lift on strong US wholesale, overseas sales

Guess Inc. said on Thursday revenue for the first quarter rose 4% to $591.9 million, on the back of surging wholesale revenues and growth in Asia, offsetting declines in the footwear firm’s Americas retail channel.

The Los Angeles-based company said Americas retail revenues remained flat for the three months ending May 4, with retail comparable sales, including e-commerce, dropping 7%. Americas Wholesale revenues, however, surged 21%.

Overseas, Asia revenues increased 3%, with retail comparable sales, including e-commerce, decreasing 9%, while Europe revenues increased 1% for the quarter. Licensing revenues surged 21%.

For the first quarter, Guess reported a GAAP loss from operations of $19.9 million (including $1.1 million in non-cash impairment charges taken on certain long-lived store related assets and a $3.1 million unfavorable currency translation impact), compared to $0.9 million, in the prior-year period.

“We are very pleased with our first quarter results, which exceeded our expectations for revenues and earnings per share,” said Carlos Alberini, Guess chief executive officer.

“We delivered revenue growth of 4% in US dollars and 7% in constant currency, driven by a remarkable performance of our licensing and Americas wholesale businesses and strong results in Europe and Asia. Revenues in our Americas retail business finished flat for the quarter, as we continued to experience softness in certain of our businesses in the region due to slower customer traffic. I believe our strong results this quarter once again highlight the power of our diversified business model and the strength of our brand and our global distribution.”

Looking ahead, the U.S. company said its expects fiscal 2025 revenues to increase between 10.7% and 12.7%, coinciding with a 9% to 11% increase in revenues for the second quarter.

Earlier this week, Guess announced the appointment of Andrew Rosen to the role of executive chair of the firm’s recently acquired Rag & Bone brand.