American Apparel Inc., the vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel, announced preliminary sales for the month ended April 30, 2012. The company reported that for the month ended April 30, 2012, total net sales increased 6 percent to $47.9 million when compared to the month ended April 30, 2011. Between the same periods, comparable store sales on a preliminary basis increased an estimated 10 percent and wholesale net sales increased an estimated 4 percent.
The following delineates the components of the estimated increases for April 2012 and the three previous months when compared to the corresponding months of the prior year:
Comparable Store Sales
April: 6 percent
March: 20 percent
February: 11 percent
January: 11 percent
Comparable Online Sales
April: 49 percent
March: 24 percent
February: 9 percent
January: 41 percent
Comparable Retail & Online
April: 10 percent
March: 21 percent
February: 11 percent
January: 15 percent
Wholesale Net Sales
April: 4 percent
March: 9 percent
February: 21 percent
January: 23 percent
“We are pleased to report another month of sales growth across all three selling channels. April represents our eleventh consecutive month of comparable sales increases,” said Dov Charney, chairman and CEO. “Despite a forward shift of the Easter Holiday, we continued to see growth in our core businesses; particularly our core knits business in the retail channel.”
The company will emphasize the following areas as it drives to increase its average sales per store:
- Introduction of improved technology and store processes, including RFID, to reduce inventory shrink, and to improve replenishment accuracy. The company deployed and is optimizing RFID at approximately half of its stores and plans to deploy to all of its stores.
- Further improvements in distribution processes and timeliness of replenishment to stores through enhancements to its supply chain infrastructure.
- Consistent improvements in manufacturing response times and quality resulting from worker longevity and training.
- Appropriate sales incentive programs for store management and rank-and-file store personnel.
- Refinements to sales conversion tracking system and monitoring procedures. The company deployed these systems at approximately 100 stores so far and will soon have it deployed to all of its stores
- Leveraging further ERP deployment with a focus on inventory accuracy and logistics.
The following delineates historical store productivity in average annual sales per store based upon trends for the month of April:
Average Annual Sales Per Store Based Upon Annualized April Sales
• 2012: $1,460,000
• 2011: $1,340,000
• 2010: $1,200,000
• 2009: $1,350,000
• 2008: $1,610,000
• 2007: $1,190,000
First Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call
The company will release its first quarter 2012 earnings results on Thursday, May 10, after the market close. The company will conduct a conference call for investors at 1:30 p.m. PT the same day to discuss the company’s performance and provide an updated financial outlook for the balance of fiscal 2012.
The conference call will be in a “listen-only” mode for all participants other than the sell-side and buy-side investment professionals who regularly follow the company. The toll-free phone number for the call is (800) 706-7745 or (617) 614-3472 and the access code is 21133882. Callers should dial in approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.
A telephonic replay will be available at (888) 286-8010 or (617) 801-6888, Access Code: 15809078, from 3:30 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 10 to 11:59 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 24. Investors also may access the live call or the replay over the Internet at: http://media-server.com/m/p/e87nuho6 or http://investors.americanapparel.net.
For more information about American Apparel, visit www.americanapparel.net.
