HanesBrands, the parent of Champion, took a bad-debt reserve charge of $14 million related to the bankruptcy filing of Sears Holdings Corporation. As a result, GAAP operating profit of $257 million declined 1 percent and GAAP diluted earnings per share were 47 cents per share.

Adjusted operating profit excluding actions of $278 million increased 1 percent, and adjusted EPS excluding actions was 52 cents per share.

When excluding the bankruptcy charge, pro forma adjusted operating profit excluding actions increased 6 percent to $292 million, and pro forma adjusted EPS excluding actions was 55 cents.

HanesBrands had expected GAAP EPS to land between 49 cents to 52 cents, and adjusted EPS excluding actions to be 54 cents to 57 cents.

Third-quarter net sales increased 3 percent to $1.85 billion, and constant-currency organic sales, which increased for the fifth consecutive quarter, were up more than 1 percent. Results landed at the lower end of guidance between $1.85 billion and $1.9 billion,

Activewear and International sales increased 7 percent and 11 percent, respectively, benefiting from strong Champion growth, while Innerwear sales decreased 7 percent.

“Our overall results were good and in line with our guidance on a pro forma basis. We made progress on our long-term goals of continued organic sales growth, higher profit margins, and reduced debt leverage,” said Hanes Chief Executive Officer Gerald W. Evans Jr. “We are diligently focused on delivering the fourth quarter, and we are off to a strong start in October with solid order bookings across our segments.”

There are several factors supporting a confident outlook, Evans noted. “Global Champion growth outside the mass channel, which was up 40 percent in constant currency in the quarter, is expected to remain strong,” he said. “And while we were disappointed that Innerwear sales were lower than expected in the third quarter, consumer demand was strong, and we believe that continued underlying strength supports our outlook for improvement.”

Callouts for Third-Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Continued Double-Digit Growth in Champion Drives Organic Growth. Champion sales increased 30 percent in the third quarter on a constant-currency basis with strong double-digit growth in the United States, Asia and Europe on top of strong double-digit growth in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the mass channel, global Champion constant-currency sales increased 40 percent.

Consumer-Directed Channels Contribute to Sales Growth. Third-quarter net sales benefited from a 15 percent increase in the consumer-directed channels of online and company-owned retail stores, which accounted for 21 percent of total company sales in the quarter.

Underlying Operating Profit Margin Increases as Expected. While operating margin declined 50 basis points to 13.9 percent on a reported GAAP basis, the pro forma adjusted operating margin excluding the bankruptcy charge increased 50 basis points to 15.8 percent as a result of organic growth, pricing actions, integration synergies and new acquisition contributions that more than offset increased brand and growth investment.

Net Debt Reduced and Debt Leverage Lowered. Hanes used its free-cash generation to pay down debt by approximately $115 million in the third quarter, lowering its debt leverage to 3.8 times on a net debt-to-EBITDA basis.

Business Segment Summaries

Innerwear Segment Results Affected by Order Imbalance. U.S. Innerwear segment sales decreased 7 percent, while operating profit decreased 14 percent. The results were lower than expected, primarily as a result of slower replenishment orders compared with strong point-of-sale trends and higher raw material costs.

Innerwear basics sales decreased, with socks and panties sales down and men’s underwear sales up. All three categories had point-of-sale growth. Products featuring innovation now account for 20 percent of basics sales.

Innerwear intimates sales decreased, although the ongoing implementation of revitalization plans for shapewear and bras are beginning to show progress. New product designs and innovation will continue to be rolled out through the first half of 2019.

Activewear Segment Sales and Profits Increase on Champion Growth and Acquisition Benefits. U.S. Activewear segment sales and operating profit each increased 7 percent. Organic sales increased 4 percent, while the Alternative Apparel acquisition also contributed to growth.

Champion sales growth was broad-based, increasing across channels, including sporting goods retailers, mid-tier department stores, college bookstores, mass merchants, online, and company-owned stores.

Net sales for Alternative Apparel, acquired in October 2017, were $16 million.

Strong International Segment Performance Drivers Include Organic Growth, Acquisitions and Synergies. Despite adverse currency exchange rates, International segment sales increased 11 percent and operating profit increased 27 percent. In constant currency, sales increased 15 percent and operating profit increased 31 percent.

Constant-currency organic sales increased 10 percent, primarily on the strength of Champion growth in Europe and Asia. Net sales for Australia-based Bras N Things, acquired in February 2018, were $32 million.

The segment’s operating margin of 16.1 percent increased 200 basis points over the year-ago quarter, benefiting from organic growth, contributions from Bras N Things, and integration synergies from past acquisitions.

2018 Financial Guidance

Hanes has updated full-year financial guidance for 2018 to reflect year-to-date results, the bankruptcy of Sears Holdings, the strengthening dollar, and other factors. After the effect of the Sears bankruptcy and negative currency trends since the company’s prior outlook, the updated guidance represents a tightening of previous ranges for net sales, operating profit and EPS.

The company expects full-year 2018 net sales of $6.735 billion to $6.775 billion, GAAP operating profit of $860 million to $875 million, adjusted operating profit excluding actions of $940 million to $955 million, GAAP EPS for continuing operations of $1.50 to $1.54, adjusted EPS excluding actions for continuing operations of $1.69 to $1.73, and net cash from operations of $625 million to $675 million. The EPS ranges include approximately $0.05 of adverse effect from the Sears Holdings bankruptcy and currency versus prior guidance.

Previously, HanesBrands had expected full-year 2018 net sales of $6.72 billion to $6.82 billion, GAAP operating profit of $870 million to $905 million, adjusted operating profit excluding actions of $950 million to $985 million, GAAP EPS of $1.54 to $1.62, adjusted EPS excluding actions of $1.72 to $1.80, and net cash from operations of $675 million to $750 million.

In addition to the $14 million Sears Holdings bad-debt charge, the updated guidance assumes no sales or profit contribution in the fourth quarter from Sears, which accounted for approximately 1 percent of total year-to-date company sales. Prior to the bankruptcy filing, Hanes had expected fourth-quarter sales of approximately $15 million and operating profit of approximately $5 million from Sears.

Compared with the company’s previous outlook for foreign exchange rates, the company expects the strengthening dollar to have a greater negative currency effect on net sales. For the fourth quarter, the company expects currency exchange rates to reduce sales by $29 million year over year, up from the previous outlook of a $12 million headwind.

The company’s updated operating cash flow guidance also includes incremental inventory investment to support accelerating Champion growth.

Updated full-year interest expense and other guidance is $221 million, up from previous guidance of $207 million primarily as a result of the yearlong effect of higher interest rates on variable-rate debt. The company expects the 2018 full-year tax rate to approach 15 percent, down from previous guidance of approximately 16 percent.

Fourth-Quarter Guidance. The company expects fourth-quarter net sales of approximately $1.70 billion to $1.74 billion. The midpoint of guidance represents approximately 5 percent growth versus the fourth-quarter a year ago and organic constant currency growth of approximately 3.5 percent.

The company expects Innerwear sales in the quarter to be comparable to a year ago, representing a significant improvement from the third-quarter year-over-year results. The outlook is based on strong fundamentals, early-quarter order bookings, and an expectation for shipments to more closely match strong consumer purchase rates that began in the third quarter.

Strong Champion growth is expected to continue to drive increased sales in the Activewear and International segments in the fourth quarter. Based on strong order bookings through the first half of 2019, Champion growth is expected to continue at a significant double-digit rate.

Fourth-quarter GAAP operating profit is expected to be in the range of $236 million to $251 million, and GAAP EPS is expected to be $0.42 to $0.46.

Fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit excluding actions is expected to be in the range of $251 million to $266 million. Adjusted EPS excluding actions for the quarter is expected to be $0.46 to $0.50.

The company expects pretax charges related to acquisition integration and other actions in the fourth quarter of approximately $15 million.

Image courtesy Hanesbrands