Aritzia Inc. expects 45% drop in net revenue in first quarter due to COVID-19

Aritzia Inc. says it expects net revenue for its first quarter to be about 45 per cent lower than at the same time last year due to the impacts of COVID-19.

The Vancouver-based company says it expects net revenue for the three months ending May 31, to fall to between $105 million to $110 million compared with about $197 million in the same period last year.

The first quarter includes two weeks of sales before the company closed all its retail outlets on March 16, as well as a 150 per cent spike in e-commerce sales after Aritzia closed its boutiques.

For the company's fourth quarter ended March 1, Aritzia saw net revenue grow 6.3 per cent to $275.4 million compared to $259.1 million in the same quarter the previous year.

Net income totalled $21.7 million, up 16 per cent from $18.7 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Adjusted net income for the quarter fell 6.6 per cent to $23.4 million or 21 cents per diluted share, compared with $25.1 million or 21 cents per diluted share at the same time last year.