VF Corp unveils new long-term strategy and refreshed corporate identity

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 25, 2019

Following the spin-off of its denim business as Kontoor Brands earlier this year, Denver, Colorado-based apparel and footwear group VF Corporation has announced a new strategic growth plan, as well as an updated logo and corporate identity.

 
The company, owner of the Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Dickies brands, revealed four main strategic focuses in its new five-year plan. First among these is the group’s digital-led transformation into a “consumer-minded and retail-centric enterprise”
 
VF will also be seeking to drive and optimize its portfolio, distort investments to Asia, and elevate its digital channels.

The company further revealed a series of financial targets that it expects to meet by 2024 as it moves forward with its new initiatives.
 
VF predicts that its revenues will grow at a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of between 7% and 8%, with progress being driven by the company’s largest brands, the international market and the direct-to-consumer channel.
 
Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 12% to 14%, compared to fiscal 2019’s adjusted EPS.

Between fiscal 2020 and 2024, the company also expects to generate around $8 billion in free cash flow on a cumulative basis and return $10 billion to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases.
 
“The past two-and-a-half years represent one of the most transformative periods in VF’s 120-year history,” explained VF Chairman, President and CEO Steve Rendle in a release. “We’ve emerged with a sharpened focus on what’s required to become even more consumer minded and retail centric. With greater clarity to the opportunities ahead, we’re confidently updating our five-year strategic growth plan and financial outlook.”
 
To reflect the latest evolution in its strategy, VF also revealed a slick new corporate logo on Wednesday, accompanied by an overhaul of its branding, the company’s first change of this kind in 21 years.
 
As part of this rebranding, the group has adopted a new tagline – “Purpose led and Performance driven” – which Rendle believes, “clearly communicates the type of company we are and will continue to be.”
 
In August, VF upped its full-year guidance after its first-quarter revenues jumped 6% to $2.3 billion, with particular growth seen in China and the company’s digital channels. Nonetheless, the group’s quarterly net income fell to $49.2 million, down from $160.4 million in the prior-year period.