Aritzia swings to Q1 profit as sales soar

Canadian womenswear brand Aritzia has reported a 121.7 percent increase in net sales in the first quarter of the year as it swung to a profit.

In the three months to May 30, net sales reached 246.9 million dollars despite the closure of 34 of the company’s 102 boutiques for approximately two-thirds of the quarter.

“We are extremely pleased with the start of fiscal 2022,” said founder and CEO Brian Hill in a statement. “In the US, our brand affinity is deepening, where net revenues have more than tripled, growing at 200 percent from the prior year.”

Retail sales productivity of open boutiques during the quarter trended on average at 99 percent of pre-Covid-19 levels despite capacity restrictions and limited operating hours.

E-commerce revenue meanwhile increased by 18.6 percent to 104 million dollars from the year before and by 167.3 percent from two years ago. Online sales in the quarter accounted for 42.1 percent of net revenue.

Net income for the year was 17.9 million dollars, compared to a loss of 26.5 million dollars a year earlier.

Aritzia ups full-year guidance

“We are emerging from the pandemic confident in our ability to consistently deliver profitable growth given the momentum in our business, led by the continued acceleration of sales in the US and sustained growth in our e-commerce business,” Hill said.

Looking ahead, the company now expects second-quarter net revenue to be in the range of 290 million dollars to 300 million dollars, representing a growth of between 45 percent and 50 percent.

For the full year, it now expects net revenue in the range of 1.15 billion dollars to 1.2 billion dollars, up from the company’s previous guidance of between 1.11 billion dollars and 1.16 billion dollars. This would represent year-on-year growth of between 35 percent and 40 percent.