Celebrities help boost Aritzia brand

Same-store sales jump in third quarter

TORONTO • Aritzia Inc. says its first outlet boutique has been “incredibly profitable” in its first two months open, but don’t expect the womenswear retailer to push heavily into the discount space.

Brian Hill, the Vancouverbased company’s chief executive officer, told analysts on a late Wednesday call that the outlet Aritzia opened at the Toronto Premium Outlets mall in November has already made back its original capital investment, but “to be clear, this is not the start of an outlet rollout.”

Hill’s remarks came as Aritzia — also the owner of Wilfred, Babaton and TNA stores — announced its third quarter had delivered the company’s 17th consecutive quarter of growth in comparable-store sales.

The key retail metric for sales from stores open at least a year jumped by 12.9 per cent for the period ended Nov. 29, up from 6.3 per cent a year ago.

That’s due, in part, to celebrities Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid and the Duchess of Sussex, formerly Meghan Markle, wearing pieces from the company in the quarter and from Kendall Jenner, who Aritzia launched a marketing campaign with, executives said.

The company also revealed that its net income increased by more than 16 per cent, reaching $32.6 million, or 28 cents per diluted share, up from $28.1 million or 24 cents per share the year before.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings equalled 31 cents per share, two cents per share above analyst forecasts, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Meanwhile, its net revenue climbed 18.8 per cent to $242.9 million, from $204.4 million in the third quarter the year before.

Aritzia predicted its 2020 fiscal year will be its biggest yet for U.S. expansion with plans to open six boutiques.

Despite the strong results, Aritzia shares fell 1.81 per cent to end the day at $16.25 in Toronto trading.