L Brands Profit Rises 13%

By Josh Beckerman 

L Brands Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 13% as it projected 2016 earnings per share slightly below Wall Street estimates.

The parent company of Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works and La Senza expects 2016 earnings of $3.90 to $4.10 a share, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters project $4.18. First-quarter guidance of 50 cents to 55 cents a share is below analysts estimates of 65 cents.

L Brands is "very optimistic heading into 2016." The company reiterated that currency rates and interest costs from a bond sale will weigh on 2016 results.

The company increased its guidance for February comparable sales growth to mid-single digits from low-single digits. Starting in February, direct sales will be included in comparable sales reports.

L Brands shares fell 0.5% to $82.75 in late trading.

Earlier this month, the company increased its earnings guidance for the January quarter and said total sales rose 8% to $4.4 billion.

The company said Feb. 12 that Victoria's Secret Chief Executive Sharen Turney would resign, with L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner taking over the role.

Victoria's Secret has avoided many of the pitfalls faced by other mall retailers, which have seen an erosion in traffic and sales. Monthly same-store sales had been growing since November 2013 until a rare miss in January, when the brand's 4% decline was partly attributed to the shift of a semiannual sale into December.

L Brands had a strong showing during the holiday selling season, including what it described as its "best December ever." Still, foot traffic fell across the retail industry as shopping continues to shift online.

In January, the National Retail Federation said factors including warm weather and the strong dollar hurt industrywide sales.

For the quarter ended Jan. 30, L Brands earned $636 million, or $2.15 a share, up from $564.8 million, or $1.89 a share, a year earlier. The company had projected $2.05 a share.

L Brands had 3,005 stores as of Jan. 30.

Write to Josh Beckerman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2016 18:58 ET (23:58 GMT)

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