A permanent chief executive is not yet in place at Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), but this week the Canadian maker of women’s athletic gear and yogawear signalled that its growth is on track by announcing fourth-quarter results which beat Wall Street’s estimates.
Lululemon earned US$120mln in the fourth quarter, or 0.88 per share, against US$136mln, or 0.99 per share in the same period a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Lululemon earned US$1.33 per share, up from US$1. Its sales figures were particularly robust, climbing 18% to US$928.8mln, up from US$790mln and surpassing Wall Street’s estimated figures by US$17mln.
READ: Lululemon Athletica's chief executive resigns over misconduct
Glenn Murphy, Lululemon’s chairman who was previously the boss at Gap, is at the helm of Lululemon while its board of directors searches for a replacement for Laurent Potdevin, who resigned last month because he fell short of the company’s standards of conduct.
The group did not explain the nature of the conduct that led to Potdevin’s departure, but suggested it had something to do with the way he treated staff. Potdevin failed to “exemplify the highest levels of integrity and respect for one another”, the company said.
In pre-market trade, shares in Lululemon were up 7.7% at US$84.80.