Ralph Lauren Reports Quarterly Profit

NEW YORK, United States — Ralph Lauren Corp on Wednesday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, as the luxury apparel maker's move to pull products off department store shelves and sell more products at full-price boosted margins.

The company's shares rose 3 percent in premarket trading.

Ralph Lauren said adjusted gross margin was 59.8 percent in the fourth quarter, a 440 basis point rise from a year earlier.

The New York-based company reported net income of $41.3 million (£31 million), or 50 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $204 million, or $2.48 per share, a year earlier.

The company incurred $322 million in restructuring charges in the year-ago quarter.

Ralph Lauren said same-store sales on constant currency basis fell 1 percent, but less than the 2.3 percent fall expected by analysts, according to Consensus Metrix.

Excluding items, the company earned 90 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 83 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net revenue fell 2.3 percent to $1.53 billion, but was above the average analyst estimate of $1.48 billion.

By Uday Sampath; editor: Maju Samuel.