Vancouver fashion retailer Aritzia saw steady growth in sales and profit as it continues to expand its network of stores and its e-commerce offerings.
The womenswear seller (TSX:ATZ) generated $8.1 million in profit on $145 million in sales during the 13 weeks that ended May 28, the company revealed July 12. That’s a 4.9% increase in profit, or net income, and a 14.7% rise in sales, or net revenue, compared with the same 13 weeks a year ago – a time period that the company considers its first quarter.
New stores have accounted for some of that sales growth but the company racked up a 9.3% increase in comparable sales from stores that have been open at least a year. Aritzia did not break out exactly what its e-commerce sales were, nor its growth rate for those sales.
“We continue to manage our business for sustained, long-term growth and are making investments to best position the company to broaden our customer base, and drive increased sales volume and further margin expansion,” said Aritzia CEO Brian Hill in a release.
Aritzia said that it now has 81 stores and that it plans to open two new stores by the end of August: a flagship Aritzia-branded store on Rush Street in Chicago and a store under Aritzia’s Babaton banner in Toronto’s Yorkdale Centre. Since the first quarter ended, Aritzia has also expanded and repositioned a different Toronto store.
Aritzia plans to open two new stores and expand or reposition four to five existing locations by next February.
That includes repositioning an existing San Francisco location into a flagship store on Market Street.
Aritzia raised $460 million when it went public in an initial public offering (IPO) on the TSX in October and then it closed a $382 million secondary offering in late January. The company priced its shares at $16 for the IPO and the shares initially closed higher. Shares have since sagged, however, and closed up $0.35 to $14.99 on July 12, before the company released earnings.
The company’s roots in Vancouver go back to 1984.
