Levi Strauss & Co. recently released financial results for the first quarter ended February 28, 2021. Due to the company’s fiscal quarter-end, the impacts of the pandemic were not material to the company’s results of operations for the first quarter of 2020. First-Quarter 2021 Results
Net revenues of $1,306 million declined 13 percent on a reported and 16 percent on a constant-currency basis compared to the same period in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced traffic and ongoing closures of company-operated and third-party retail locations for portions of the quarter in certain markets.
“We’ve started the year strong, beating our internal expectations even as we are lapping a particularly good quarter in the prior year,” said Chip Bergh, chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co. “Our strong results this quarter were driven by a faster-than-expected recovery in our business from our relentless focus on the priorities that are driving outsized performance. We continue to lean into our strategies – leading with our brands, investing in direct-to-consumer, and diversifying our business – while still operating prudently to manage the ongoing uncertainty, especially in Europe. As the vaccine rollout continues and consumer excitement returns, I am more confident than ever that we will emerge from the pandemic a stronger business and drive sustainable, profitable growth.”
“We are very pleased to have exceeded our revenue, margins, and EPS expectations during the quarter,” said Harmit Singh, the chief financial officer of Levi Strauss & Co. “We are banking the outperformance and our outlook going forward has improved based on the strong demand signals we are seeing in the marketplace. We’re delivering substantial gross margin expansion while holding our cost base in line with 2019 and investing to accelerate growth. This gives me confidence we’ll achieve our Adjusted EBIT margin objective of 12 percent-plus once revenues have returned to pre-pandemic levels. This, combined with the increase in our dividend, reflects our commitment to driving value for our shareholders over the long term.”
