Ulta announces improved holiday sales, ups outlook

The company, which sells a range of prestige cosmetic and toiletry brands, alongside a number of its own-brand products, said that sales during the all-important holiday period grew by 18.2 percent to $221.9m in the seven weeks up to January 2.

Comparable store sales for the period increased by 7.9 percent, compared to a 5.8 percent decrease for the corresponding period in the previous year, which the company said resulted in a two year comparable store sales increase of 2.1 percent.

All-important holiday season sales​

Ulta traditionally makes a concerted effort to market towards the increased spending pattern that traditionally marks the holiday season in the US with dedicated marketing initiatives that begin the week before Thanksgiving.

Ulta President and CEO Lyn Kirby said that the results had been driven on the back of the company’s marketing drive during the period, combined with the fact that added retail value for its ranges had helped to increase customer traffic by 8.8 percent

Kirby also stated that the results had benefited from a less-promotional gift-giving environment across its retail categories, in contrast to a very different picture for the same period last year.

Improved margins​

“As a result, we improved our merchandise margin and leveraged our marketing spend as a percentage of net sales, as compared to last year,”​ she said in a statement.

The improved holiday result led Kirby to state that the company was raising its outlook for the fourth quarter, compared to the initial outlook that was given when the third quarter results were announced on December 3, last year.

As a consequence, fourth quarter sales are now expected in the range of $388m - $392m, compared to the previous outlook of $362m - $376m. Fourth quarter sales in 2008 were $341.4m.