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URBN Profits Jump 38% and Produce Record Q3 EPS

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), a leading lifestyle products and services company which operates a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of the Anthropologie, BHLDN, Free People, FP Movement, Terrain, Urban Outfitters, Nuuly and Menus & Venues brands, today announced net income of $77 million and record earnings per diluted share of $0.78 for the three months ended October 31, 2020. For the nine months ended October 31, 2020, net loss was $27 million and loss per diluted share was $0.28.

Total Company net sales for the three months ended October 31, 2020, decreased 1.8% over the same period last year to $970 million. Comparable Retail segment net sales were flat as a result of negative retail store sales driven by lower store productivity due to reduced store traffic, offset by strong double-digit growth in the digital channel. By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 17% at Free People and 4% at Urban Outfitters and decreased 9% at the Anthropologie Group. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 24%.

“I am pleased to announce URBN delivered record Q3 earnings per share in spite of an incredibly difficult operating environment,” said Richard A. Hayne, Chief Executive Officer. “Our 38% increase in net profits was driven by strong product assortments combined with tight control of inventory and expenses,” finished Mr. Hayne.

Net sales by brand and segment for the three and nine-month periods were as follows:

  Three Months Ended     Nine Months Ended  
  October 31,     October 31,  
  2020     2019     2020     2019  
Net sales by brand                              
Urban Outfitters $ 394,050     $ 374,459     $ 955,259     $ 1,046,310  
Anthropologie Group   358,482       398,709       887,683       1,147,977  
Free People   206,669       205,475       492,352       597,606  
Menus & Venues   3,664       6,794       8,378       20,286  
Nuuly   6,742       2,032       17,684       2,032  
Total Company $ 969,607     $ 987,469     $ 2,361,356     $ 2,814,211  
                               
Net sales by segment                              
Retail Segment $ 895,608     $ 897,130     $ 2,214,311     $ 2,558,386  
Wholesale Segment   67,257       88,307       129,361       253,793  
Subscription Segment   6,742       2,032       17,684       2,032  
Total Company $ 969,607     $ 987,469     $ 2,361,356     $ 2,814,211  

For the three months ended October 31, 2020, the gross profit rate increased by 79 basis points versus the prior year’s comparable period. Gross profit dollars increased 0.6% to $322.9 million from $321.1 million. The increase in gross profit rate was due in part to record low merchandise markdowns in the Retail segment. The record low Retail segment markdown rate was driven by improvement at all three brands with the Urban Outfitters and Free People brands recording significant improvement. The Wholesale segment also delivered healthy improvement in merchandise margins due to lower discounts and allowances. Additionally, gross profit improved as a result of the benefits associated with negotiated rent concessions with landlords and European government assistance programs. These were partially offset by an increase in delivery and logistics expense primarily due to the penetration of the digital channel.

For the nine months ended October 31, 2020, the gross profit rate decreased to 24.3% from 32.2% in the prior year’s comparable period. The decrease in the gross profit rate was primarily driven by an increase in delivery and logistics expense primarily due to penetration of the digital channel, followed by store occupancy expense rate deleverage. The deleverage in store occupancy expense was due to lower sales as a result of mandated store closures as well as lower store traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, during the nine months ended October 31, 2020, the Company recorded a $15.9 million year-over-year increase in inventory obsolescence reserves and a $14.5 million store impairment charge.

As of October 31, 2020, total inventory decreased by $42.3 million, or 8.0%, on a year-over-year basis. The decrease in total inventory was primarily due to an 11% decrease in comparable Retail segment inventory at cost.

For the three months ended October 31, 2020, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $21.4 million, or 8.7%, compared to the prior year’s comparable period and expressed as a percentage of net sales, leveraged by 175 basis points. The leverage and decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended October 31, 2020, was primarily related to disciplined store payroll management and overall expense control measures. Digital marketing expenses grew during the quarter to support strong digital channel sales and customer growth.

For the nine months ended October 31, 2020, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $109.1 million, or 15.3%, compared to the prior year’s comparable period and expressed as a percentage of net sales, deleveraged by 24 basis points. The deleverage was primarily driven by an increase in digital marketing and other expenses in order to support strong digital channel sales and customer growth partially offset by disciplined store payroll management and other expense control measures. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses for the nine months ended October 31, 2020, was primarily due to disciplined store payroll management, overall expense control measures and the benefit of COVID-19 related government relief packages.

The Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended October 31, 2020, was 21.4% compared to 26.6% in the prior year period. The Company’s effective tax rate for the nine months ended October 31, 2020, was a benefit of 14.8% compared to an expense of 25.8% in the prior year period. The change in the effective tax rate for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2020, was primarily driven by the year-to-date operating loss compared to operating income in the prior year period.

Net income for the three months ended October 31, 2020, was $77 million and earnings per diluted share was $0.78. Net loss for the nine months ended October 31, 2020, was $27 million and loss per diluted share was $0.28.

During the three months ended October 31, 2020, the Company repaid the remaining $120.0 million outstanding on its Amended Credit Facility. The Company had borrowed $220.0 million during the three months ended April 30, 2020, in order to preserve financial flexibility and maintain liquidity and flexibility in response to the coronavirus pandemic and had already repaid $100.0 million during the three months ended July 31, 2020.

On August 22, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of 20 million common shares under a share repurchase program. The Company did not repurchase any shares during the third quarter, while during the nine months ended October 31, 2020, the Company repurchased and subsequently retired 0.5 million common shares for approximately $7 million under this program. These shares were repurchased prior to the known spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States that forced the Company to close its stores for an extended period of time. During the year ended January 31, 2020, the Company repurchased and subsequently retired 8.1 million common shares for approximately $217 million under this program. On June 4, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of 20 million common shares under a new share repurchase program. As of October 31, 2020, 25.9 million common shares were remaining under the programs.

During the nine months ended October 31, 2020, the Company opened a total of twelve new retail locations including: six Urban Outfitters stores, three Anthropologie Group stores and three Free People stores (including one FP Movement store); and closed five retail locations including: four Urban Outfitters stores and one Free People store. During the nine months ended October 31, 2020, four Urban Outfitters franchisee-owned stores and one Free People franchisee-owned store were closed.

Urban Outfitters, Inc., offers lifestyle-oriented general merchandise and consumer products and services through a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of 250 Urban Outfitters stores in the United States, Canada and Europe and websites; 234 Anthropologie Group stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, catalogs and websites; 146 Free People stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, catalogs and websites, 11 Menus & Venues restaurants, 1 Urban Outfitters franchisee-owned store and 1 Anthropologie Group franchisee-owned store, as of October 31, 2020. Free People and Urban Outfitters wholesale sell their products through approximately 2,300 department and specialty stores worldwide, digital businesses and the Company’s Retail segment.

A conference call will be held today to discuss third quarter results and will be webcast at 5:00 pm. ET at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/usdcoxym

This news release is being made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Certain matters contained in this release may contain forward-looking statements. When used in this release, the words “project,” “believe,” “plan,” “will,” “anticipate,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any one, or all, of the following factors could cause actual financial results to differ materially from those financial results mentioned in the forward-looking statements: the impacts of public health crises such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the difficulty in predicting and responding to shifts in fashion trends, changes in the level of competitive pricing and promotional activity and other industry factors, overall economic and market conditions and worldwide political events and the resultant impact on consumer spending patterns, the effects of the implementation of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from membership in the European Union (commonly referred to as “Brexit”), including currency fluctuations, economic conditions and legal or regulatory changes, any effects of war, terrorism and civil unrest, natural disasters, severe or unseasonable weather conditions or public health crises, increases in labor costs, increases in raw material costs, availability of suitable retail space for expansion, timing of store openings, risks associated with international expansion, seasonal fluctuations in gross sales, the departure of one or more key senior executives, import risks, changes to U.S. and foreign trade policies, including the enactment of tariffs, border adjustment taxes or increases in duties or quotas, the closing or disruption of, or any damage to, any of our distribution centers, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, risks associated with digital sales, our ability to maintain and expand our digital sales channels, response to new store concepts, our ability to integrate acquisitions, any material disruptions or security breaches with respect to our technology systems, failure of our manufacturers and third-party vendors to comply with our social compliance program, changes in our effective income tax rate (including the uncertainties associated with the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, regulatory changes and legal matters and other risks identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that actual results may differ materially from any projected results expressed or implied therein.

(Tables follow)


URBAN OUTFITTERS, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

  Three Months Ended     Nine Months Ended  
  October 31,     October 31,  
  2020     2019     2020     2019  
                               
Net sales $ 969,607       $ 987,469       $ 2,361,356       $ 2,814,211    
Cost of sales (excluding store impairment)   646,666         666,367         1,774,006         1,908,178    
Store impairment                   14,528            
Gross profit   322,941         321,102         572,822         906,033    
Selling, general and administrative expenses   224,433         245,833         603,630         712,683    
Income (loss) from operations   98,508         75,269         (30,808 )       193,350    
Other (loss) income, net   (890 )       576         (1,261 )       6,754    
Income (loss) before income taxes   97,618         75,845         (32,069 )       200,104    
Income tax expense (benefit)   20,914         20,193         (4,731 )       51,547    
Net income (loss) $ 76,704       $ 55,652       $ (27,338 )     $ 148,557    
                               
Net income (loss) per common share:                              
Basic $ 0.78       $ 0.57       $ (0.28 )     $ 1.48    
Diluted $ 0.78       $ 0.56       $ (0.28 )     $ 1.47    
                               
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:                              
Basic   97,784,661         97,972,864         97,823,948         100,458,726    
Diluted   98,583,032         98,628,169         97,823,948         101,147,025    
                               
                               
AS A PERCENTAGE OF NET SALES                              
Net sales 100.0 %     100.0 %     100.0 %     100.0 %  
Cost of sales (excluding store impairment) 66.7 %     67.5 %     75.1 %     67.8 %  
Store impairment                 0.6 %          
Gross profit 33.3 %     32.5 %     24.3 %     32.2 %  
Selling, general and administrative expenses 23.1 %     24.9 %     25.6 %     25.3 %  
Income (loss) from operations 10.2 %     7.6 %     -1.3 %     6.9 %  
Other (loss) income, net -0.1 %     0.1 %     -0.1 %     0.2 %  
Income (loss) before income taxes 10.1 %     7.7 %     -1.4 %     7.1 %  
Income tax expense (benefit) 2.2 %     2.1 %     -0.2 %     1.8 %  
Net income (loss) 7.9 %     5.6 %     -1.2 %     5.3 %  



URBAN OUTFITTERS, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(amounts in thousands, except share data)
(unaudited)

  October 31,     January 31,     October 31,  
  2020     2020     2019  
ASSETS                      
Current assets:                      
Cash and cash equivalents $ 624,945     $ 221,839     $ 167,070  
Marketable securities   2       211,453       170,697  
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts
of $3,098, $880 and $1,084, respectively
  87,187       88,288       99,971  
Inventory   489,234       409,534       531,565  
Prepaid expenses and other current assets   170,193       122,282       143,710  
Total current assets   1,371,561       1,053,396       1,113,013  
                       
Property and equipment, net   930,564       890,032       890,538  
Operating lease right-of-use assets   1,101,495       1,170,531       1,119,280  
Marketable securities   9,350       97,096       83,121  
Deferred income taxes and other assets   117,705       104,578       114,641  
Total Assets $ 3,530,675     $ 3,315,633     $ 3,320,593  
                       
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY                      
Current liabilities:                      
Accounts payable $ 349,793     $ 167,871     $ 232,901  
Current portion of operating lease liabilities   255,122       221,593       213,911  
Accrued expenses, accrued compensation and other current liabilities   341,983       249,306       264,240  
Total current liabilities   946,898       638,770       711,052  
Non-current portion of operating lease liabilities   1,069,434       1,137,495       1,119,340  
Long-term debt                
Deferred rent and other liabilities   83,024       84,013       60,348  
Total Liabilities   2,099,356       1,860,278       1,890,740  
                       
Shareholders’ equity:                      
Preferred shares; $.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized,
none issued
               
Common shares; $.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized,
97,786,381, 97,976,815 and 97,975,343 issued and outstanding,
respectively
10     10     10  
Additional paid-in-capital   15,669       9,477       5,201  
Retained earnings   1,446,534       1,473,872       1,454,333  
Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (30,894 )     (28,004 )     (29,691 )
Total Shareholders’ Equity   1,431,319       1,455,355       1,429,853  
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity $ 3,530,675     $ 3,315,633     $ 3,320,593  



URBAN OUTFITTERS, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(amounts in thousands)
(unaudited)

  Nine Months Ended  
  October 31,  
  2020     2019  
Cash flows from operating activities:              
Net (loss) income $ (27,338 )   $ 148,557  
Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by operating activities:              
Depreciation and amortization   78,308       83,617  
Non-cash lease expense   147,198       142,210  
(Benefit) provision for deferred income taxes   (15,293 )     211  
Share-based compensation expense   17,030       16,807  
Store impairment   14,528        
Loss on disposition of property and equipment, net   706       819  
Changes in assets and liabilities:              
Receivables   1,137       (19,550 )
Inventory   (79,462 )     (161,255 )
Prepaid expenses and other assets   (35,403 )     (37,228 )
Payables, accrued expenses and other liabilities   235,618       100,534  
Operating lease liabilities   (122,360 )     (153,320 )
Net cash provided by operating activities   214,669       121,402  
Cash flows from investing activities:              
Cash paid for property and equipment   (89,153 )     (171,121 )
Cash paid for marketable securities   (93,945 )     (299,322 )
Sales and maturities of marketable securities   384,999       382,629  
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities   201,901       (87,814 )
Cash flows from financing activities:              
Borrowings under long-term debt   220,000        
Repayments of long-term debt   (220,000 )      
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options         974  
Share repurchases related to share repurchase program   (7,036 )     (217,421 )
Share repurchases related to taxes for share-based awards   (3,802 )     (5,574 )
Net cash used in financing activities   (10,838 )     (222,021 )
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents   (2,626 )     (2,757 )
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents   403,106       (191,190 )
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period   221,839       358,260  
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 624,945     $ 167,070  
Supplemental cash flow information:              
Cash paid during the year for:              
Income taxes $ 11,549     $ 56,910  
Non-cash investing activities—Accrued capital expenditures $ 54,137     $ 14,769  


Contact: Oona McCullough
  Director of Investor Relations
  (215) 454-4806


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Source: Urban Outfitters, Inc.