Victoria's Secret & Company Achieves Strong Q3 Performance, Embarks on New Era of Growth
Victoria's Secret & Company has reported a robust third quarter performance, marking an important milestone in its transformation journey. The company's sales growth was well ahead of expectations, driven by broad-based strength across all regions, channels, and major merchandise categories.
According to CEO Hillary Super, the strong Q3 results indicate that the company has reached an important milestone in its transformation, which began when it stood up as an independent business in 2021. The transformation focused on strengthening the core of the business and establishing an operationally sound organization.
Sales increased 7% in total, with mid-single-digit growth in North America and over 20% growth from international businesses. Strong sales, well-managed operations, and disciplined inventory management led to healthy margins and a lower operating loss than originally forecasted.
In North America, Victoria's Secret and PINK both saw positive year-over-year sales growth across all major merchandise categories in both stores and digital businesses. Traffic was up compared to last year in both channels, with significant outperformance in stores compared to the balance of the mall.
The company's beauty business continues to be its best-performing category, followed by casual sleep and intimates, which also experienced growth. These categories are must-win for holiday, and current trends are very encouraging. PINK sales trend improved significantly in the quarter, with sales increasing compared to last year.
Outside of North America, the company's international business continued its strong performance in the quarter, with system-wide retail sales of mid-teens, driven by growth with franchise and travel retail partners and in its joint venture in China with partner Regina Miracle.
CEO Hillary Super expressed optimism about the company's future prospects, citing emotional product that customers love, clear elevated brand storytelling, exceptional shopping experiences, and seamless integration of marketing and brand messaging. These factors have attracted a new generation of customers to the brands and improved results across all channels and regions.
The company's transformation is yielding positive results, and its strong Q3 performance is an encouraging sign for investors and stakeholders. As it embarks on this new era of growth, Victoria's Secret & Company seems poised for continued success in a competitive market.
