The Children’s Place FY24 losses narrow, yet sales fall amid 'macroeconomic headwinds'

US kidswear retailer The Children’s Place reported widening profits and narrowing losses for FY24, ended February 1, 2025, despite net sales falling 13.5 percent to 216.2 million dollars.

Over the period, gross profits increased to 459.5 million dollars compared to 445.3 million dollars in the year prior, while its gross margin rate increased to 33.1 percent. The company cited reductions in product input costs, including cotton and supply chain costs, which it said had “negatively impacted margins in the prior year”.

Operating loss, meanwhile, narrowed from 83.8 million dollars to 13.7 million dollars, which The Children’s Place said was “impacted by incremental expenses of 66.4 million dollars”. Net loss came to 57.8 million dollars, or 4.53 dollars per diluted share, compared to 154.5 million dollars, or 12.34 dollars per diluted share, in FY23.

The latest results come alongside the financial statement for the company’s fourth quarter of FY24, when net sales fell 10.2 percent to 46.4 million dollars. Gross profit over this quarter rose to 116.6 million dollars as The Company’s Place swung into the black, moving from an operating loss of 61.8 million dollars in the same period of the year prior, to an operating income of 6.8 million dollars.

In a release, Muhammad Umair, president and interim CEO, said during the fourth quarter, the company continued efforts to “expand gross margin, reduce inefficient SG&A spending and remain laser-focused on improving the profitability of the business, which has enabled us to achieve a third consecutive quarter of adjusted operating profits”.

Umair continued: “As expected, along with the ongoing transformation of our business model, these strategic changes and other macroeconomic headwinds have continued to put pressure on top-line sales. However, we remain extremely pleased with the resulting sequential improvement in the gross profit margin for all four quarters this year.”