Coach Profit Beats Estimates As Sales Fall Slightly Short

Luxury accessories maker Coach Inc. said Tuesday it had net income of $170 million, or 61 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter, down from $183 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 68 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 66 cents. Sales rose to $1.27 billion from $1.22 billion, slightly below the FactSet consensus of $1.28 billion. Chief Executive Victor Luis said the company made significant progress in its transformation plan in the quarter, despite the difficult global retail environment. "We drove further sequential improvement in our North America bricks and mortar business - led, as expected, by our retail stores, while our outlet store channel also strengthened against a backdrop of lower tourist traffic and a highly promotional environment," he said in a statement. Coach is now expecting to return to top line growth in fiscal 2016 and to achieve positive North American comparables by the fourth quarter. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 18% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost about 9%.