Retail

Victoria's Secret Finds Sex Doesn't Sell

Thinkstock

Victoria’s Secret, notorious lingerie retailer, is finding out the hard way that sex isn’t selling, at least not this summer. This comes after the company reported its June sales were not up to par. As a result, its parent company L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB), is watching its shares take a dive on Thursday.

L Brands operates two segments: Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. There was not a slowdown at Bath & Body Works, as this company’s sales were in line and comps remained strong, around 10% for the month, compared to last year.

However, Victoria’s secret had a soft showing with comparable sales down about 1% for the month of June. This was in part due to the Victoria’s Secret semiannual sale that ultimately had a “soft start with negative traffic level.”

As a result, management tried to combat this by extending the sale period by about two weeks compared to last year. The retailer also reduced pricing to drive traffic and clear inventory, which ultimately resulted in merchandise margin rates falling significantly.

24/7 Wall St. has taken a look at the June big picture numbers for L Brands separately.

Shares of L Brands were last seen down about 11% at $32.81, with a consensus price target of $39.17 and a 52-week trading range of $30.70 to $63.10.

Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)

Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.

Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.

Click here now to get started.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.