OLD NAVY CONTINUES TO DRIVE GAP INC.’S BUSINESS IN SECOND QUARTER

Gap Inc. is seeing some improvements in its business with the help of its Old Navy stores. The company is reporting that its net sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 were $3.80 billion compared with $3.85 billion for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016. The translation of foreign currencies into U.S. dollars negatively impacted the company’s net sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 by about $37 million.

However, Gap Inc.’s comparable sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 were up 1 percent versus a 2 percent decrease last year. Comparable sales for Old Navy were up 5 percent versus flat last year; Gap’s comparable sales were down 1 percent versus down 3 percent last year; and Banana Republic was down 5 percent versus down 9 percent last year.

“With a third consecutive quarter of comp sales growth, we are seeing our investments in product, customer experience, and brand equity begin to pay off,” said Art Peck, president and chief executive officer, Gap Inc. “Based on the strength of the first half, we are pleased to increase our full year earnings guidance. As we continue to focus on long-term growth, we are accelerating our strategies that put the customer at the center of everything we do – including a focus on product categories where we have clear differentiation, continued investment in our online and mobile offerings, and taking advantage of our operating scale to drive speed to market, responsiveness to customer demands and efficiency.”

The company ended the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 with 3,642 store locations in 47 countries, of which 3,179 were company-operated. The company continues to expect store count to be about flat at the end of fiscal year 2017 compared with fiscal year 2016.