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| Statement |
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| So yes, so super excited with the results we put up, obviously, for the fourth quarter as well as for the full year |
| So we'll expect the majority of dollar growth to continue to come from the Americas region, but on a rate basis, we're optimistic that we can start to see good growth, outsized growth in Europe and APAC |
| We saw top-line growth across regions and brands resulting in sales of $4.28 billion, up 15.8% to 2022 and our second-highest annual sales level in our history |
| So that gives us the excitement like Fran said that we can continue to grow and sustain these margins where they are grow |
| That's a much healthier store base than we had in 2019 when we were in kind of those low single digits, maybe the mid-single digits operating margins |
| We've entered 2024 in a position of strength with momentum across our global business |
| Very excited to achieve what we have, top line and bottom line |
| But as I say, regularly, there is no finish line and we see tremendous opportunity ahead |
| With the strength of the product, the marketing and the brand, we've been able to take off a significant amount of promotions versus 2019 and prior |
| And particularly for Hollister this year, I mean keeping that lean inventory and making sure that we stay in chase mode has been a huge win for us and intending to do the same as we continue into 2024 |
| Our strong 2023 results are at or above our 2025 financial targets of $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion in sales and operating margin at or above 8% |
| Obviously, APAC is a very small part of our business, but as Fran mentioned earlier, we're investing in our teams and we're rebuilding the foundation and we're confident in our ability to grow in those regions |
| For us, 2024 should be a proof point of our ability to balance pursuit of new growth opportunities, while also maintaining strong financial discipline |
| For the year, Hollister brands grew 6%, a good turnaround from down 9% in 2022 |
| We've seen really strong growth in the US over the past few years |
| So it's just a cleaner selling environment there in Hollister, our teams are chasing, we've mentioned that, and optimistic for the profitability of Hollister to continue as we go forward |
| When we refer to our years of transformation work, we're most proud of how we've built the trust and the experience within our team to push boundaries as it relates to evolving our assortment, end-to-end supply chain, enhancing our marketing and creating digital and physical experiences that exceed our customers' expectations |
| When you look at the brand, store fleet like come on an operational basis, the store fleet is in a good place, our productivity in the stores is up, and the gross margins are in a really good place also |
| From kids to teens to adults, our brand portfolio has something for them and we have increasing confidence that we are at a stage where we can focus on capturing more customers across the globe |
| I am so proud of what our global teams have accomplished over the past few years |
| A heartfelt thanks goes out to our global team that delivered such a fantastic year for our customers |
| This was above the range we provided in early January due to a better-than-expected finish to the month |
| Net sales at Abercrombie brands rose 35% on a reported basis with comparable sales up 28% |
| The Americas led our strong growth result at an impressive 18% from 2022 |
| We saw outsized growth in Abercrombie brands in the region and we're pleased to see Hollister brands grow up 2022 levels |
| Our growth was led by women's throughout the year, delivering its third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in Q4 |
| Our team distorted investments and focus to those markets where we had the highest customer awareness, mainly the UK and Germany, and we saw positive results in both countries |
| We actually added millions of customers to our file this year, which has been incredibly exciting |
| And the fact that our playbook is working here, we're very confident that it'll work there as well |
| That was our expectation and we're very happy to have seen that come through |
| Statement |
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| Full year results exclude approximately $4 million of pretax asset impairment charges, which adversely impacted results by $0.06 |
| This includes a net adverse impact of approximately $50 million from the loss of the 53rd reporting week in 2023 |
| In 2022, we excluded $14 million of pretax asset impairment charges, which adversely impacted results by $0.20 |
| But we're worried about growing the total |
| Lower clearance spending or lower clearance selling |
| But we're through the worst of that in terms of cotton, in terms of freight |
| Compared to 2019, our ending 2023 store count was down around 10%, while gross square footage was down 21%, store occupancy was down 24% and productivity per square foot was up 18% |
| So that'll hurt us a little bit there in Q4, but that'll go away in 2024 |
| So we are seeing some friction there on shipping costs |
| I mean, it's been a roller coaster here over the past few years with COVID, number one, and then the spike in input costs had an outsized impact on Hollister |
| Scott Lipesky Dylan, on the second part in these long-term targets and the sustainability, you called out the per square footage and the real estate, some of the stats I gave, square footage down 21%, occupancy down 24%, productivity up 18% |
| I was wondering if the components of that were changing, because I sense the denim category is coming back |
| Yes, we've obviously seen Abercrombie outperform Hollister brands here over the past few years and we're just going to expect that to continue until it doesn't |
| There could be divergence at some point and when that happens, fine |
| So I was wondering what you were seeing there |
| We'll get a little bit of a help here from this 53rd week nuance on the calendar shift, and really it comes down to visibility |
| Dylan Carden Just kind of curious here, you've -- I think you even said this on your prepared remarks, but you've hit or exceeded the sort of 2025 targets |
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