Lululemon profits almost double in Q2

Lululemon Athletica Inc. raised its guidance just two weeks after its new chief executive officer joined the company.

The Vancouver-based athletic apparel brand said it expects to earn $3.45 to $3.53 per share for the full year on revenues between $3.18 billion to $3.23 billion. That’s up from $3.10 to $3.18 per share on $3.04 billion to $3.07 billion of revenues forecast three months ago.

The new outlook comes as Calvin McDonald announced that Lululemon beat expectations as its profits had nearly doubled in its second quarter.

The company said its net income rose to $95.8 million or 71 cents per share for the period ended July 29. That’s up from $48.7 million or 36 cents per share a year earlier. Revenues were up 25 per cent to $723.5 million. Lululemon was expected to earn 49 cents per share on $667.9 million of revenues, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Executives at the company attributed the increases to the strong demand for women’s yoga pants, a 10 per cent increase in same-store sales and a 47 per cent jump in e-commerce sales.

Those conditions come as the brand and McDonald are being closely watched by analysts, following the departure of former CEO Laurent Potdevin, who abruptly resigned in January after the company said he “fell short” of its standards of conduct.