By Sanskriti Shekhar and Danielle Kaye
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Bath & Body Works forecast a wider-than-expected decline in current-quarter sales on Wednesday, as the personal care brand struggles through weak store traffic in the early stages of a turnaround.
The company raised its annual profit target helped by tariff refunds as well as demand its in digital channels.
• Shares of the company fell about 4% in premarket trading.
• Like many consumer companies, Bath & Body Works is in the midst of a turnaround
focused on product innovation and enhancing its digital platform under CEO Daniel Heaf.
• "The progress (in its turnaround efforts), because it's early, has yet to offset the changes in the whole business," CEO Heaf told Reuters, adding that the company is seeing a decline in store traffic and a broader weakness in mall traffic.
• Bath & Body Works has been expanding its distribution beyond its own stores through third-party channels, including Amazon and a partnership with Ulta Beauty to draw affluent younger consumers.
• Cosmetics maker Coty last week forecast current-quarter earnings below expectations, as consumers become more selective in their spending and higher oil prices also weigh.
• It forecast a drop in third-quarter net sales of between 2.5% and 5%, compared to estimates of a 2.9% drop.
• It sees Q3 adjusted EPS between 7 cents and 12 cents, while analysts expect 26 cents.
• Bath & Body Works expects annual adjusted profit between $2.60 and $2.80 per share, compared with its prior forecast of $2.40 to $2.65 per share.
• It benefited from about $80 million in tariff refunds during the second quarter.
• Excluding that benefit, the company's earnings per share stood at 31 cents. Analysts estimated a profit of 24 cents per share.
• Bath & Body Works posted second-quarter sales of $1.51 billion, edging past analysts' estimate of $1.50 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
