Featured Company News – Abercrombie & Fitch to Open 4 New Full-Price Stores in Q4 and Close Up To 60 Stores in 2017

Research Desk Line-up: Ross Stores Post Earnings Coverage

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / November 21, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily takes a look at the latest corporate events and news making the headlines for Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF), following which we have published a free report that can be viewed by signing up at http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=ANF. The Company announced on November 17, 2017, during its third-quarter earnings conference call, that it intends to open four new full-price stores in Q4 2017, and close up to 60 stores in the US by the end of the year. Abercrombie & Fitch is a specialty retailer who mainly sells its products through store and direct-to-consumer operations, as well as through various wholesale, franchise, and licensing arrangements. For immediate access to our complimentary reports, including today’s coverage, register for free now at:

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Discover more of our free reports coverage from other companies within the Apparel Stores industry. Pro-TD has currently selected Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) for due-diligence and potential coverage as the Company reported on November 16, 2017, its financial results for Q3 which ended on October 28, 2017. Tune in to our site to register for a free membership, and be among the early birds that get our report on Ross Stores when we publish it.

At Pro-TD, we make it our mission to bring you news that matter about the stock you follow. Today, our research desk covers a blog story on ANF; also brushing on ROST. Go directly to your stock of interest and access today’s free coverage at:

http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=ANF

http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=ROST

Store Closure to Adapt to Changing Retail Landscape

Abercrombie & Fitch will be closing around 60 brick-and-mortar stores in the US in 2017 through natural lease expirations. The Company had first mentioned about these plans in its fourth-quarter 2016 earnings conference call on March 02, 2017. It re-iterated these plans on November 17, 2017.
The Company has brought down its stores in the US from 946 in 2012 to 694 in 2017. Declining sales, as fewer shoppers are showing up at the Company flagship stores, have led to the store closures. The trend has been particularly evident among international visitors due to the strong US dollar.
As a matter of fact, Abercrombie & Fitch is considering store closure and channel optimization initiatives to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of fashion retail.

A Common Trend across Apparel Retail

Abercrombie & Fitch is not the only brand to announce downsizing in 2017. Store closures has been a common trend across major fashion retail Companies such as Macy’s Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., and Ralph Lauren Corp.
The strong US dollar is hurting retailers such as Tiffany & Co. and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd, which had invested in large, flashy stores in gateway cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Miami, in order to generate sales from international visitors.
Besides, customers are gradually shifting spending to different categories, like home products. Even for apparel, more and more shoppers now prefer shopping at discount stores like T.J. Maxx, or at fast-fashion behemoths such as H&M and Zara.

Move Towards an Omni-Channel Existence

Abercrombie & Fitch mentioned that store closure is also a part of its plan to improve store productivity.
The Company’s aim is to enhance consumer’s overall shopping experience. Thus, it is investing in fulfillment, mobile, and omni-channel capabilities to fulfill customers’ needs regardless of when, where, or how they are looking to shop.
Besides, the Chain has involved designers to renew its image in the new post-logo approach as it dials back the super-sexy marketing of past.

Positive Q3 2017 Results Indicate an Optimistic Future Outlook

Abercrombie & Fitch achieved broad based improvement across brands and geographies in its third quarter ending October 28, 2017. The Company recorded net sales of $859.1 million for the third quarter, which represents an increment of 5% from the same period of last year. The Company made a return to positive comparable sales, which were up by 4% for this quarter.
This improvement can be attributed to its efforts towards building an omni-channel presence, store remodeling, customer engagement, and marketing initiatives, which led to operating expense leverage and profit growth. Abercrombie & Fitch’s strategic investments are translating into positive overall traffic and conversion trends across brands.
The Company’s Hollister brand achieved net sales of $508.1 million for the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 10% from last year, while the net sales for the Abercrombie brand decreased 2% to $351.0 million. Hollister is gradually taking momentum and is expected to capture a greater market share in the near future.
Driven by this positive performance, the Company plans to open four new full-price stores in Q4 2017, in addition to the five stores opened year to date, including two outlet stores.

Last Close Stock Review

On Monday, November 20, 2017, the stock closed the trading session at $17.04, advancing 9.58% from its previous closing price of $15.55. A total volume of 10.49 million shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 3.20 million shares. Abercrombie & Fitch’s stock price skyrocketed 23.84% in the last one month, 86.23% in the past three months, and 39.67% in the previous six months. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the Company have soared 42.00%. The stock has a dividend yield of 4.69% and currently has a market cap of $936.35 million.

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