Victoria’s Secret announced a downbeat forecast for the first quarter as ‘global unrest’, a reference to the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, and supply chain constraints are expected to hit sales.
The lingerie and beauty company expects its operating income to be in the range of US$80mln-US$100mln for the first quarter of 2022, down on the US$225.7mln reported in 2021.
It forecast revenues to be slightly less than the US$1.5bn in the first three months of the last fiscal year, and for it to fall somewhere between US$1.425-US$1.495bn.
In the statement, the American company said the decrease in performance is largely due to “incremental supply chain cost pressures this year and federal stimulus benefits which drove higher sales and operating income last year.”
The company does, however, anticipate performance to improve in the following nine months, and operating income to fall in line with this year’s results.
Chief executive Martin Waters said, “We are keenly aware 2022 will present continued challenges for retailers in this inflationary environment.”
“However, we have a very resilient, dedicated team and strategy prepared to meet these challenges head-on by focusing on the customer journey, being ‘best at bras’, prioritizing people and planet, and launching new initiatives for future growth,” Waters added.
It reported an operating income of US$246.1mln for the three months ending January 29 2022, which was at the top end of the previous guidance in its results today.
Operating income for the year was US$869.5mln compared to a loss of US$101.5mln reported in 2020.