John D. Idol
Analyst · JPMorgan
Thank you, Christina. Good morning, and welcome to Michael Kors' Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2013 Earnings Call. With me today is Joe Parsons, Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer. I will begin the discussion with a brief overview of the quarter and fiscal year and share with you an update on our strategic growth plans. Joe will then provide a detailed review of our fourth quarter financial results. Additionally, he will provide an outlook for our fiscal 2014 first quarter and full year. Michael Kors delivered record results in 2013. Total revenue grew 68%, exceeding the $2 billion mark. Comparable store sales increased 40%. And operating income grew 132% to $630 million, excluding onetime items. Our global retail store base increased from 237 locations to 304 locations, including concessions. Our international presence expanded, with revenue growth of 103% in Europe and 119% in Japan. And we reached approximately 950 shop-in-shops globally in accessories, footwear and womenswear. We attribute our outstanding success to the creative vision of Michael Kors, our exceptional product offering, a highly talented management team and our operational excellence. The year ended on a strong note with continued momentum in the fourth quarter as the brand strength, innovative fashion design and jet-set in-store experience drove strong sales and earnings across all businesses and geographies. Total revenue in the fourth quarter grew 57% to $597 million. Gross margin expanded 200 basis points. And income from operations grew 102% to $155 million, excluding onetime items. We also continued to make progress on our 6 key growth strategies during the fourth quarter. First, we delivered our 28th consecutive quarter of comp store growth in North America with a 35% increase. Second, we continued our retail expansion efforts in North America, opening 3 new stores during the quarter. Third, with 500 department store door conversions to date, we reached the halfway mark on our goal of 1,000 North American accessory shop-in-shops. Fourth, we expanded our presence in Europe with the addition of 1 retail location in the quarter as well as new wholesale doors. Fifth, we further developed our business in Japan with the addition of 3 retail locations. And sixth, we continued to build a foundation for growth in other areas of the Far East through regional licensees. We ended the fourth quarter with 66 retail locations in this region. Now turning to our segment results. In the fourth quarter, retail net sales grew 59% to $273 million and comparable store sales increased 37% globally, underscoring Michael Kors' exceptional brand power, compelling luxury merchandise assortment and unique jet-set in-store experience. Retail sales growth was also driven by 67 net new store openings since the fourth quarter of last year, including 7 openings during the fourth quarter. We ended the year with 304 company-owned global retail stores, including concessions, and 400 stores, including licensees. Wholesale net sales increased 59% to $305 million in the fourth quarter, driven by continued strong performance of Michael Kors' luxury products in department stores and specialty stores, as well as our conversion to shop-in-shops in department stores. Our accessories, footwear and womenswear businesses all showed strong performance during the quarter. In our licensing segment, revenues increased 16% to $20 million in the fourth quarter, driven by the continued strength in luxury watches, jewelry and eyewear. Turning to our operations by region. For the fourth quarter, North American revenues increased 52% to $517 million and comparable store sales increased 35%. We opened 3 stores during the quarter and ended the year with 231 locations. In our wholesale business, in addition to generating strong comparable store sales, we continue to successfully convert department store locations into branded shop-in-shops, driving significant sales volume growth per door. In Europe, we continue to see growing brand awareness of the Michael Kors brand as we see our luxury products resonate with European customers. During the fourth quarter, European revenue increased 97% to $73 million and comparable store sales increased 63%. We opened 1 store during the quarter and ended the quarter with 44 retail locations. Additionally, sell-through in our wholesale segment remains very strong. We continue to expand this channel primarily with the opening of 216 wholesale doors in the fourth quarter. Turning to Japan. For the fourth quarter, our revenues increased 96% to $7 million, with comparable store sales increasing 14%. We opened 3 concessions in Japan during the fourth quarter and ended the year with 29 retail locations. We continue to believe that the Japanese marketplace will be meaningful -- will be a meaningful contributor to our revenue and net income growth in the future. At the end of the quarter, we operated 96 Michael Kors retail stores through various partnerships worldwide, including Mexico and the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Korea, Southeast Asia and Greater China. Including these locations, there were 400 Michael Kors stores at the end of the fourth quarter worldwide. We expect fiscal 2014 to be another outstanding year for Michael Kors as we continue to execute on our growth strategies. Our growing brand recognition, fashion-focused luxury product and jet-set in-store experience will continue to be the drivers of our success. Starting with North America. We expect to drive comp store sales growth with the continued introduction of new luxury merchandise, coupled with our focus on delivering a superior jet-set in-store experience. Today, we have 231 stores. We anticipate opening approximately 50 stores in North America in fiscal 2014 and still believe there is long-term potential for 400 locations in this region. In our wholesale business, we expect sales to be driven by comparable store sales growth and continued conversion of department stores to shop-in-shops in accessories, footwear and womenswear. We will also expand shop-in-shops in men's sportswear and men's leather goods, as we view these categories as long-term growth opportunities for the company. In Europe, we will continue to increase our brand awareness and capture market share as we expand our retail and wholesale presence. Today, we have 44 stores, including concessions, in this region. We plan to open 40 new stores in fiscal 2014. And given how strongly our brand has performed in the market, how well it resonates with European consumers, and after careful review of the growth opportunity across the European market, we have concluded that the retail store growth potential is greater than the 100 locations we initially targeted. We now believe we can open 200 retail locations in Europe. In addition, we see significant opportunity to expand our wholesale business through additional wholesale doors and shop-in-shop locations. Today, we have approximately 1,000 wholesale department store and specialty store doors in Europe where we are seeing strong performance for the brand. Long term, we continue to target 2,000 doors in this region. Japan is also a key market and a great long-term opportunity for the Michael Kors brand. We have 29 stores in Japan and we expect to open 7 locations this fiscal year. We continue to believe we can ultimately operate 100 retail locations in this region. That said, Japan will take time to mature, as we are in the early stages of developing brand awareness in this market. In the Far East, we are beginning to establish our brand and will continue to expand in this market through regional partnerships. We believe that the Far East represents a large market opportunity for the company. The stores in this region are showing positive results, which means the consumer is beginning to embrace the Michael Kors luxury lifestyle brand. As such, we are increasing our retail store growth target to 200 locations in this region from our initial target of 150 locations. We continue to focus our growth in Greater China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In terms of our travel business, we remain on track to expand Michael Kors luxury products and jet-set in-store experience into the finest airports in the world. We continue to see approximately 50 airport and Duty Free shops worldwide over time, including freestanding stores, shop-in-shops and stores operated by specialists in the travel retail business. Finally, we'll continue to work towards bringing our North American e-commerce business in-house in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. As we announced on our last call, we will evolve this in-house platform to enable us to offer an omnichannel experience to our customers and broaden our merchandise offering of Michael Kors luxury products. Customers will have a consistent and exciting Michael Kors experience across our retail stores, our shop-in-shops and our website. In addition to enhancing the experience of our current customers, we believe this site will also provide us an opportunity to effectively engage new customers. In the long term, we believe that e-commerce could represent a multimillion-dollar channel opportunity, and we expect this business to reach approximately 10% of total retail revenues. In summary, we are pleased to have ended the year on such a strong note, having delivered exceptional financial results and making advances on our operational goals. Looking ahead, we continue to execute on our growth initiatives with the support of a strong balance sheet and cash flow generation, which enables us to make the investments necessary to reach our long-term growth targets. We look forward to continuing to build Michael Kors into a leading global luxury lifestyle company. Now I will turn the call over to Joe Parsons for additional analysis of our financial results.