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Will Exit Geoffrey Beene Outlet Retail Business By Year End
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25 Stores to be Converted to Calvin Klein Outlet Retail Stores
Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation [NYSE: PVH]
today announced it has decided not to renew its license agreements to
operate Geoffrey Beene outlet retail stores and will close its Geoffrey
Beene outlet retail division by the end of fiscal 2008. The expiration
of the retail license agreements will not affect the Company’s
license agreement for Geoffrey Beene brand dress shirts and men’s
sportswear, which has been renewed for an additional term ending
December 31, 2013.
The Geoffrey Beene outlet retail division, which currently operates
approximately 100 stores, is expected to substantially complete its
liquidation by the end of fiscal 2008. Approximately 25 stores will be
converted to Calvin Klein outlet retail stores, with the remaining
stores being exited.
The Company expects to record after tax charges of approximately $15
million, or $0.29 per share, which will be recognized over the balance
of the current year. The charges relate to asset impairments, severance,
inventory markdowns and lease exit costs.
Emanuel Chirico, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted, “From
a human resource perspective, this is a very difficult decision for the
Company. We are working to place as many of our Geoffrey Beene
associates as possible into positions within our other operating
divisions.”
Mr. Chirico continued, “The closing of our
Geoffrey Beene retail division in no way bears on our commitment to our
Geoffrey Beene wholesale dress shirt and sportswear businesses. Geoffrey
Beene remains the number one designer dress shirt brand in the U.S. and
is an important component of our stable of brands.”
Mr. Chirico concluded, “For the current year,
the division was projected to operate at break-even to a small loss. By
converting a portion of the Geoffrey Beene store portfolio to Calvin
Klein outlet retail stores, we will accelerate the growth of our most
productive and profitable outlet retail division and more quickly reach
our desired number of Calvin Klein outlet retail stores. The conversion
of approximately 25 stores to the Calvin Klein format should result in
significantly higher sales per square foot and higher operating margins
in these stores, which should have a positive impact on fiscal 2009
operating results.”
EARNINGS GUIDANCE IMPACT
The Company’s previously announced 2008
earnings per share guidance was $3.32 to $3.41. The Company continues to
project earnings per share in this range, excluding the costs associated
with the closure of the Geoffrey Beene outlet retail division. Including
these exit costs, the Company estimates its GAAP earnings per share for
2008 to be in a range of $3.03 to $3.12. Please see the accompanying
GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation.
GAAP to NON-GAAP RECONCILIATION
The Company believes presenting its estimated 2008 earnings per share
excluding the costs of exiting the Geoffrey Beene outlet retail
business, which is on a non-GAAP basis, provides useful additional
information to investors. The Company believes that the exclusion of
such costs facilitates the comparability of the Company's results from
period to period by eliminating costs that it believes are
non-recurring, thereby permitting management to evaluate performance and
investors to make decisions based on the ongoing operations of the
Company. The Company believes that investors often look at ongoing
operations of an enterprise as a measure of assessing performance and as
a basis for comparing past results against future results. The Company
has provided the reconciliation set forth below to present its estimate
of earnings per share on a GAAP basis and excluding these costs. The
Company will use its results excluding these costs to evaluate its
operating performance and to discuss its business with investment
institutions, the Company’s Board of
Directors and others. Such results will also be the basis for certain
incentive compensation calculations.
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Earnings per share estimated range per GAAP
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$3.03 - $3.12
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Estimated per share impact of exiting Geoffrey Beene retail business
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$0.29
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Estimated earnings per share range excluding exit costs
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$3.32 - $3.41
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SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT
OF 1995: Forward-looking statements in this press release, including,
without limitation, statements relating to the Company’s
future earnings, plans, strategies, objectives, expectations and
intentions, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are
cautioned that such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to
risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted with
accuracy, and some of which might not be anticipated, including, without
limitation, the following: (i) the Company’s
plans, strategies, objectives, expectations and intentions are subject
to change at any time at the discretion of the Company; (ii) the levels
of sales of the Company’s apparel, footwear
and related products, both to its wholesale customers and in its retail
stores, the levels of sales of the Company’s
licensees at wholesale and retail, and the extent of discounts and
promotional pricing in which the Company and its licensees and other
business partners are required to engage, all of which can be affected
by weather conditions, changes in the economy, fuel prices, reductions
in travel, fashion trends, consolidations, repositionings and
bankruptcies in the retail industries, repositionings of brands by the
Company’s licensors and other factors; (iii)
the Company’s plans and results of operations
will be affected by the Company’s ability to
manage its growth and inventory, including the Company’s
ability to continue to realize revenue growth from developing and
growing Calvin Klein; (iv) the Company’s
operations and results could be affected by quota restrictions and the
imposition of safeguard controls (which, among other things, could limit
the Company’s ability to produce products in
cost-effective countries that have the labor and technical expertise
needed), the availability and cost of raw materials (particularly
petroleum-based synthetic fabrics, which are currently in high demand),
the Company’s ability to adjust timely to
changes in trade regulations and the migration and development of
manufacturers (which can affect where the Company’s
products can best be produced), and civil conflict, war or terrorist
acts, the threat of any of the foregoing, or political and labor
instability in the United States or any of the countries where the
Company’s products are or are planned to be
produced; (v) disease epidemics and health related concerns, which could
result in closed factories, reduced workforces, scarcity of raw
materials and scrutiny or embargoing of goods produced in infected
areas; (vi) acquisitions and issues arising with acquisitions and
proposed transactions, including without limitation, the ability to
integrate an acquired entity into the Company with no substantial
adverse affect on the acquired entity’s or
the Company’s existing operations, employee
relationships, vendor relationships, customer relationships or financial
performance; (vii) the failure of the Company’s
licensees to market successfully licensed products or to preserve the
value of the Company’s brands, or their
misuse of the Company’s brands and (viii)
other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This press release includes a non-GAAP financial measure, as defined
under SEC rules. A reconciliation of this measure is included in the
body of this release, as well as in the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K to be furnished to the SEC in connection with
this release, which will be available on the Company’s
website at www.pvh.com and on the SEC’s
website at www.sec.gov.
The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, any estimate
regarding earnings, whether as a result of the receipt of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation
Michael Shaffer
Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
212-381-3523
www.pvh.com