Movado beats profit and sales expectations, boosts dividend 54%
Movado Group Inc. reported Thursday that it swung to fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $33.9 million, or $1.47 a share, from a profit of $5.2 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as a $1.95-per-share expense related to the recent tax legislation, adjusted earnings per share came to 52 cents, double the FactSet consensus of 26 cents. The luxury watch maker said revenue rose 14.1% to $149.2 million, above the FactSet consensus of $132.6 million, with same-store sales for the Movado company stores up 6.4%. Looking ahead, fiscal 2019 sales are expected to be $605.0 million to $615.0 million, above the FactSet consensus of $570.9 million. Separately, the company said it will raise its quarterly dividend by 54% to 20 cents share from 13 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable April 25 to shareholders of record on April 11. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 3.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has lost 2.6%.
