(Filed Under Financial and General Interest News). Fiscal first half sales and operating income both fell at Wacoal’s U.S. division, repeating declines reported in the first quarter.

For the six months ending September 30, 2018, “sales on a local currency basis from Wacoal International Corp. (U.S.) decreased by 2%,” while “operating income on a local currency basis decreased by 9%.” The U.S. arm is one of several for the Japan-based firm.

Meanwhile, “sales on a local currency basis (Sterling pound) for Wacoal Europe increased by 2%,” and “operating income on a local currency basis increased by 27% as compared to such operating income for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year due to decreases in the amount of sale discounts and reevaluation of suggested retail price in the United Kingdom, which improved the gross profit rate, in addition to the favorable effect of increased revenue.”

Referring to it’s U.S. business, Wacoal admitted that “while e-commerce sales increased by 9%, over-the-counter sales at department stores (actual shops) decreased by 8% as compared to such sales for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. In addition, sales were impacted by closings of certain department stores that went bankrupt and the absence of the positive impact of initial product delivery during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year due to an increase in the number of department stores handling our products.”

The European division (which also sells some product into the U.S.), by contrast, boasted that “sales in the United Kingdom and the United States, our major markets, were strong and increased by 8% and 4%, respectively, at department stores and through third-party e-commerce websites. Sales of our underwear and swimwear products under plus-size brand “elomi” continued to show strong growth with an increase of 20%, driving the overall sales.”

For its entire overseas component, which includes China, the U.S. and Europe, sales rose in the six months to 34,198 million Japanese yen (about $302 million at current conversion rates) from 33,319 million yen in the same period last year, while operating income fell to 3,841 million yen (about $34 million) from 3,569 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

In the first fiscal half, parent company Wacoal Holdings Corp. reported worldwide net earnings of 11,391 million yen (about $101 million) on sales of 101,815 million yen (about $900 million), compared to net income of 7,437 million yen on sales of 101,976 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017. — NM

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Published 11-05-2018 by Nick Monjo