“Our solid performance this quarter was very much in line with our expectations and our strategic initiatives”, commented Victor Luis, Chief Executive Officer of Coach, Inc., adding: “In a volatile and complex global environment, we delivered continued positive comparable store sales for the Coach brand in North America and gross margin expansion in each segment, while tightly controlling costs. We continued to drive growth in our directly-operated Europe and Mainland China businesses, which represent the most significant geographic opportunities for our brands. And, despite our deliberate pullback in the North America wholesale channel and the impact of calendar shifts, we delivered earnings growth.”

Net sales totaled 995 million US dollars for the third fiscal quarter, a decrease of 4% on a reported basis and a 3% decline on a constant currency basis. As planned, the company’s strategic decision to elevate the Coach brand’s positioning in the North American wholesale channel through a reduction in promotional events and door closures negatively impacted sales growth by approximately 150 basis points in the quarter.

Net income for the quarter on a reported basis totaled 122 million US dollars, with earnings per diluted share of 43 cents. This compared to reported net income in the third quarter of the previous year of 112 million US dollars with earnings per diluted share of 40 cents.

Net sales for the Coach brand totaled 915 million US dollars for the third fiscal quarter, a decrease of approximately 4% on a reported and constant currency basis, consistent with expectations. As planned, the strategic actions in the North America wholesale channel negatively impacted sales growth by about 150 basis points.

The Stuart Weitzman brand announced total net sales of 80 million US dollars for the third fiscal quarter compared to 79 million US dollars reported in the same period of the prior year, an increase of 1%, impacted by wholesale shipment timing.
The company continues to expect revenues for fiscal 2017 to increase low-single digits, including the impact of currency.