"Our financial results in the first quarter were challenging and below expectations. While we are disappointed in these results, we have made tangible progress in a very difficult retail environment. Notably, we successfully re-launched our new e-commerce sites with minimal disruption and strong initial performance metrics, including a 40 + per cent increase in conversion rate driving 18.8 per cent web sales growth. Working capital improvements and reduced capital expenditures allowed us to reduce our debt, net of cash, by $10.5 million year-over-year and our focus on inventory management produced modest improvements in conversion and units per transaction. As we look ahead to the remainder of the year, we continue to believe we are positioned to drive improvement in sales and profitability, and we look forward to completing our proposed merger with Orchestra-Prémaman, which we expect to provide significant synergies and resources to allow us to accelerate our turnaround," said Anthony M Romano, chief executive officer & president.
Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 decreased 5.3 per cent to $55.6 million, compared to $58.8 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2016. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A increased to 52.3 per cent for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 compared to 47.2 per cent for the first quarter of fiscal 2016. For the reported quarter, the company's gross margin was 54.4 per cent, up 30 basis points over the comparable prior year quarter gross margin of 54.1 per cent. (RR)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India