Vera Bradley's Q1 loss narrows but revenues drop

Consolidated first quarter net revenues at Vera Bradley totaled 94.4 million dollars compared to 98.5 million dollars in the prior year.

The company’s consolidated net loss was 4.7 million dollars or 15 cents loss per diluted share compared to net loss of 7 million dollars or 21 cents per diluted share in the previous year.

Pura Vida segment revenues totaled 20.1 million dollars, a 1.2 percent increase over the prior year first quarter, primarily driven by new store growth resulting in non-comparable retail store sales.

First quarter gross profit was 51.7 million dollars or 54.8 percent of net revenues, compared to 52.5 million dollars or 53.3 percent of net revenues.

Commenting on the first quarter trading, Jackie Ardrey, chief executive officer of the company, noted in a release: “We are pleased that meaningful gross margin expansion and diligent expense control led to significant year-over-year improvement in bottom-line performance for the quarter. On the revenue side, Vera Bradley factory stores experienced challenging traffic trends in March and April that led to weaker-than-expected performance for the quarter.”

For fiscal 2024, the company expects consolidated net revenues of 490 to 510 million dollars compared to 500 million dollars in fiscal 2023. Both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida revenues are expected to be approximately flat on a year-over-year basis.

A consolidated gross profit percentage is expected to be 52.8 percent to 53.8 percent compared to 51.4 percent in fiscal 2023, operating income is expected to reach 24 to 28 million dollars compared to 12.3 million dollars and consolidated diluted EPS of 57 cents to 67 cents versus 24 cents last year.