Naz News, Gappers and FLE's

[sludgehound]

LULU & Lands' End
Lands' End good numbers.
News on them with retail #s ahead as oil on increase.

LULU I'm watching for either 10:30a or 2:30p lows. Has history of holders running on this kind of news over long term.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. on Thursday lowered its outlook for the year, as the maker of high-end yoga gear also reported a drop in profit for the fiscal first quarter amid a tax charge tied to a share-repurchase plan.
The retailer also issued a second-quarter forecast that fell short of Wall Street's expectations, helping to send shares down 8.1% to $40.70 in recent premarket trading.
Lululemon unveiled a share-repurchase program of up to $450 million , which it will fund through the repatriation of foreign earnings. The company recorded a $30.9 million tax charge in the first quarter for the planned repatriation.
The company also said Chief Financial Officer John Currie , who has been with Lululemon since 2007, plans to retire by the end of the fiscal year. The company said it would engage an executive-search firm to seek Mr. Currie's replacement.
For the quarter ended May 4 , the Vancouver, British Columbia , company reported a profit of $19 million , or 13 cents a share, down from $47.3 million , or 32 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding the tax adjustment, per-share earnings for the latest period were 34 cents .
Revenue rose 11% to $384.6 million .
The company had predicted earnings of 31 cents to 33 cents a share on revenue of $377 million to $382 million .
Total same-store sales rose 1% on a constant-dollar basis, while gross margin widened to 50.9% for the quarter from 49.4%.
Looking ahead, Lululemon lowered its earnings outlook for the year to a per-share profit of $1.71 to $1.76 , normalized for the tax adjustment in the first quarter. Lululemon also trimmed the top end of its revenue range, and now sees full-year revenue of $1.77 billion to $1.8 billion , compared with a previous outlook of $1.77 billion to $1.82 billion .
The company expects second-quarter earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share on $375 million to $380 million in revenue, missing estimates from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters of 36 cents a share and $387.2 million , respectively.
Chief Executive Laurent Potdevin called 2014 a "transitional year" for the company, and said Lululemon is "on track with the improvements we have set out to achieve."
The company has been working to rebound from quality-control problems last year that led to a recall of its popular yoga pants after the company found them to be too see-through. Founder and former Chairman Dennis "Chip" Wilson then made some controversial comments that seemed to suggest that some new quality issues were in part the fault of overweight customers.
In addition to Mr. Wilson stepping down from his chairman post, Lululemon changed its CEO and chief merchant, boosted its supply-chain staff and implemented new controls. The company until recently, however, still suffered weaker sales over the past year after a period of fast growth.
On Wednesday, Mr. Wilson stirred up controversy again after he said he voted against Lululemon's new chairman, Michael Casey , who has had the job for less than a month. Mr. Wilson also voted against another outside director facing re-election on Wednesday.
Mr. Wilson said board members favor short-term results at the expense of long-term goals, product and corporate culture. "Change is now needed at the board level to increase shareholder value," added Mr. Wilson, the company's biggest shareholder and a director.
In response, the company said its board members "are aligned with the company's core values and possess the necessary expertise to successfully lead Lululemon forward." Both directors Mr. Wilson opposed were re-elected at the company's annual meeting.
Write to Anna Prior at [e-mail]
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-12-14 0722ET
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