G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. reported sales more than doubled  to $75.4 million from $35.1 million a year ago. The net loss was $6.9 million, or 42 cents a share, essentially flat with $6.4 million, or 42 cents, a year ago. The company traditionally experiences losses in the first quarter due to the seasonality of its outerwear business. But it noted that sales were higher than forecasted and net loss per share lower than forecasted primarily due to strong sales of dresses.


Morris Goldfarb, G-III’s chairman and CEO, said, “We are very pleased with the stronger than expected start for the year. We saw a continuation of the trend toward women’s dresses, which we successfully leveraged. We were able to offset the additional seasonal losses resulting from our recent acquisition of the Andrew Marc business with the strong performance of our dress business. The integration of Andrew Marc is proceeding well and we remain excited about its potential in the marketplace.”


Goldfarb continued, “We are accomplishing our objectives despite a very challenging environment. We are comfortable with the pace of our bookings for the fall season and will focus on delivering high quality product under a wide range of compelling brands.”

 

Goldfarb concluded, “We continue to believe that we have an excellent opportunity to grow and, by leveraging the Andrew Marc brand, to enter new categories, including through licensing partnerships. In order to support this opportunity and to raise the profile of the Andrew Marc brand, we believe the timing is appropriate to increase the marketing presence, led by a print media campaign, of the Andrew Marc brand for the upcoming fall season.”

Outlook


The company today initiated guidance for both the second quarter of fiscal 2009 and for the full 2009 fiscal year. It is forecasting net sales of approximately $100 million for its second fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2008, compared to $83.9 million in prior year’s second fiscal quarter. The company is also forecasting a net loss of approximately $3.6 million or $0.22 per share, compared to a net loss of $884,000, or $0.05 per share, in last year’s second quarter. The increased loss expected during the quarter is due to the seasonal losses incurred from the Andrew Marc acquisition this year.


The company is forecasting net sales in the range of $650 million to $660 million and net income in the range of $21.8 million to $22.7 million, or $1.25 to $1.30 per diluted share for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2009, compared to net sales of $518.9 million and net income of $1.05 per diluted share for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2008. The company is also forecasting EBITDA for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2009 to increase approximately 32% to 36% to a range of approximately, $50.0 to $51.5 million, up from $37.8 million in fiscal year ended January 31, 2008.