Liz Claiborne Inc. (New York) reported a 13 percent increase in earnings for the fourth quarter 2004. Net sales were up 16.1 percent.
For the full year 2004, earnings increased 11.8 percent and net sales were a record $4.633 billion, up 9.2 percent.
Same-store sales in its company-operated stores increased by 5.3 percent overall, driven by a 16.7 percent increase in the specialty retail business, partially offset by a 2.4 percent decrease in the outlet business. Liz Claiborne ended the year with a total of 285 outlet stores, 269 specialty retail stores and 622 international concession stores.
“We are pleased to report these solid fourth quarter results, which were driven by the strength of our balanced and diversified portfolio,” said president and ceo Paul Charron. “The disciplined execution of our multi-brand, multi-channel, multi-geography diversification strategy enabled us to achieve higher than planned sales and the upper end of our earnings per share expectation in a challenging retail environment. In January, we continued to execute this strategy with the acquisition of C & C California, a designer, marketer and wholesaler of premium apparel for women, men and children through its C & C California brand.
“As has been the case in recent quarters,” said Charron, “our performance was broad-based, driven by significant contributions from our Liz Claiborne apparel, Juicy Couture, Mexx Canada, Lucky Brand retail, Crazy Horse men’s, Monet, Emma James, JH Collectibles, Laundry by Shelli Segal and licensing businesses, as well as the acquisition of Enyce. . . . The retail climate is currently challenging, and we will continue to plan our businesses conservatively, focusing on solid execution and disciplined inventory management.”
Liz Claiborne Inc. designs and markets women’s and men’s fashion apparel and accessories and fragrances. Its brands include Axcess, Bora Bora, C & C California, Claiborne, Crazy Horse, Curve, Dana Buchman, Elisabeth, Ellen Tracy, Emma James, Enyce, First Issue, Intuitions, Jane Street, J.H. Collectibles, Juicy Couture, Laundry by Shelli Segal, LIZ, Liz Claiborne, Lucky Brand, Mambo, Marvella, Mexx, Monet, Monet 2, Realities, Sigrid Olsen, Spark, Swe, Trifari and Villager.