Source: Sharecast
The company, which also owns brands like The North Face and Timberland, reported a 9% fall in revenues over the first quarter ended 27 June, which it blamed on destocking.
Nevertheless, group-wide revenues of $1.67bn beat company guidance, with turnover excluding the to-be-divested Dickies brand rising 1% over last year, compared with the forecast of a low-single digit decline.
VF reported an operating loss of $83m, compared with an $87m loss a year earlier, while its operating margin slipped 10 basis points to negative 5%. The adjusted operating loss excluding Dickies was $95m, slightly ahead of the $100m expected.
"We had a solid start to the year, beating our revenue and operating income guidance. The North Face, Timberland and Altra delivered another quarter of growth; and Vans Americas DTC continued to grow but was more than offset by declines in global Wholesale," said president and chief executive Bracken Darrell.
"We expect Vans Wholesale to improve significantly in the second half of the year. Given our overall Q1 performance and better visibility into the balance of the year, we are raising our FY'27 revenue guidance."
VF raised its full-year constant-currency revenue outlook to growth of 2% or better, from 1% to 2% previously. It continues to expect an adjusted operating margin of around 8% and free cash flow to be flat or higher than last year’s $405m.
The company also announced that CFO Paul Vogel, who has been in the job for just two years, is leaving the company, and will be replaced by Abhishek Dalmia, currently chief operating officer, who will take on the additional role.
Despite the Q1 beat, shares were down 17.6% at $15.03 by 1614 BST.