Vishop Holdings skyrockets in China

Asian markets were quite active Wednesday, with Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing Co Ltd saying it is strengthening oversight of its garment and textile suppliers, after problems with working conditions were recently found at two suppliers in China.

Besides the Japanese apparel retailer said it would start monitoring textile suppliers for compliance with its standards for working conditions. It will also increase the number of unannounced audits that it conducts at the garment-supply level, reported Reuters.

In China, Vishop Holdings stole the session. For the fourth quarter, the company reported a profit of 12 cents per share, lower compared to the Capital IQ consensus estimate of 14 cents per share, reported ‘The Street Insider’. Shares at the retail group were skyrocketing, adding 11.88 percent to 24.39 dollars in mid-morning trading, after the Chinese online discount retailer posted mixed fourth quarter earnings results.

Revenue was up 108.9 percent year-on-year to 1.36 billion dollars, topping the Capital IQ consensus estimate of 1.23 billion dollars.

Encouraged by these figures, Vipshop issued upside guidance for 2015, now forecasts sales in a range of between 1.25 billion to 1.30 billion dollars for the first quarter. This implies a 78 percent to 85 percent rise from the same period a year ago.

Elsewhere, Perry Ellis (PERY) warned that strikes at West Coast ports had negatively affected its fourth quarter results, reducing revenue in the period by 23 million dollars. The apparel maker now expects its fourth-quarter’s Q4 revenue to come in at 218 million dollars, quite behind the consensus outlook of 242 million dollars. Perry Ellis provided fiscal 2016 revenue guidance of 925 million to 935 million dollars, compared to the consensus outlook of 955 million dollars.

Commenting the announcement in a note to investors, Wunderlich analyst Eric Beder reduced his fourth-quarter estimates for Perry Ellis, and wrote that "nearly all apparel players will be affected by the (port) slowdown."

Brighter session for Foot Locker, which shares rose about 2 percent after the athletic apparel retailer raised its quarterly dividend by 14 percent and increased its buyback plan to 1 billion dollars, nearly doubling the previous 600 million dollars.