The parent company to brands like Lee and Wrangler, VF Corp., announced second quarter earnings above analyst projections on Monday. The company reported second quarter revenue increased approximately 2 percent to $2.4 billion, which beat analysts’ predictions of revenue around $2.3 billion.
VF’s Jeanswear business segment is still expected to approximate revenue from last year. International revenue increased 4 percent, with 13 percent growth in China. Direct-to-consumer revenue also grew 13 percent, while digital revenue grew an impressive 34 percent.
However, earnings per share from continuing operations dropped 11 percent to $0.29, compared to $0.32 during the same time last year. This year’s earnings per share are now expected to be $2.94, which includes a $40 million, or 8 cents per share, impact from additional investments to fuel accelerated growth.
VF expects to return more than $1.8 billion to shareholders this year, through share repurchases and dividends, up from the previous outlook of $1.6 billion.
“VF’s second quarter results were solid and consistent with our expectations, driven by strong results from our largest global brands, the company’s international and direct-to-consumer platforms, and our growing workwear businesses,” said VF President and CEO Steve Rendle. “We have really good momentum as we move into the second half of 2017 and are confident in our growth engines, as evidenced by an increase in our full year outlook and our plan to increase our cash returns to shareholders.”
Rendle went on to say that based on the strong first half of 2017, VF Corp. will focus on growth-focused investments within its largest brands and platforms in an effort to create more near and long term value for shareholders.
VF also announced the retirement of Chairman Eric C. Wiseman after more than 20 years with the company in various leadership roles. After Wiseman’s retirement this October, Rendle will take over the role of Chairman.
