Genesco operating income rises, Johnston & Murphy and Schuh revenue is strongest

American specialty retail company Genesco Inc that has over 1,430 retail stores across the world, reported a net sales increase of 25 per cent in Q3 FY 2022 to $601 million from $479 million in Q3 FY21 and a growth of 12 per cent from $537 million in Q3 FY20. GAAP operating income also increased 69 per cent over third quarter two years ago.

Same-store sales increased 25 per cent over last year, store sales were above pre-pandemic levels and the e-commerce sales increased 79 per cent from the third quarter two years ago.

The company owns the names Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Little Burgundy, Schuh, Schuh Kids, Johnston & Murphy brands. Overall sales for the third quarter this year compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2021 were up 20 per cent at Journeys, up 33 per cent at Schuh, up 69 per cent at Johnston & Murphy and up 6 per cent at Licensed Brands.

"Our third quarter results exceeded our expectations and were well above pre-pandemic levels. Strong sales growth, solid gross margins, and well managed expenses fueled a 69% increase in operating income versus the third quarter Fiscal 2020 two years ago, helping deliver record third quarter adjusted EPS of $2.36 compared to $1.33 in Fiscal 2020," Thomas A George, Genesco’s chief financial officer, said.

The gross margin of the company stood at 49.2 per cent of sales with an increase of 210 basis points, compared with 47.1 per cent last year.

Genesco's GAAP operating income for the third quarter was $43.8 million or 7.3 per cent of sales this year, compared with $8.2 million or 1.7 per cent of sales last year and $25.9 million or 4.8 per cent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2020.

As of October 30, its cash and cash equivalents were $282.8 million, compared with $115.1 million in the same period last year. The total debt at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2022 was $15.6 million compared with $32.9 million at the end of last year's third quarter. On the other hand, inventories decreased 8 per cent in the third quarter of on a year-over-year basis.

Based on the quarter’s performance, the company expects annual sales to be up by 9 per cent to 11 per cent, compared to fiscal 2020 and adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $6.40 to $6.90. This represents growth of approximately 45 per cent at the mid-point compared to fiscal 2020, with an expectation that earnings per share for the year will be near the mid-point of the range.