Ralph Lauren Grey Forecast

Polo Ralph Lauren Corp reported Q3 EPS of $2.41, $0.09 worse than the analyst estimate of $2.50. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. The Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared an 11% increase in the regular quarterly cash dividend on the Company’s Common Stock. The new quarterly cash dividend is $0.50 per share. Over the next year, the new annual dividend amount will be $2.00 per share. The next quarterly dividend is payable on April 10, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 27, 2015.

“Our year-to-date results reflect continued focus on our long-term strategic growth initiatives”, said Ralph Lauren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We opened several new stores around the world; we invested in advertising and marketing to support substantial product innovation, including the launch of Polo for women; and we made important upgrades to our infrastructure. Our long-range goals remain unchanged, and we have a clear roadmap to achieve them. As we work to realize these goals and maximize our investments in an increasingly complex global environment, we are making the right organizational changes to ensure a strong and healthy future for the Company. The Board’s decision to raise our quarterly dividend demonstrates its conviction in the Company’s growth objectives and an ongoing commitment to returning cash to our shareholders”.

“The resilience of the third quarter’s operating profitability is a testament to the strong, consistent operational discipline of our global teams”, said Jacki Nemerov, President and Chief Operating Officer. “Although our sales were below the expectations we had set, we navigated through the volatile global marketplace by controlling the controllable and delivered an operating margin at the high end of our outlook. Foreign exchange and global consumer spending remain unpredictable, and we are planning our business accordingly. While we are cautious with our outlook, we are bold with our actions to offset some of these ongoing external pressures. Over the next several months, we will implement a new, carefully considered, global brand management structure that we are confident will enable us to operate in a more customer-centric way and provide substantial operating efficiencies».