Abercrombie & Fitch credited the strength of its brands, continued global expansion and “customer first” approach for strong fourth quarter and full year results.
The company reported full year net sales of $4.95bn (£3.88bn), up 16% from 2023, alongside fourth quarter net sales growth of 9%.
In a call with investors today (5 March), CEO Fran Horowitz said the fourth quarter “put an exclamation point on a year of significant achievement for our global team, both strategically and financially”, with the company achieving its goal of “sustainable profit growth”.
“We’re driven by the passion and agility of our world class team executing our global playbooks where we put the customer at the centre of everything we do,” Horowtiz stated.
Both Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister enjoyed a “record Q4”, the expectation being “for both brands to grow”, according to the CEO.
Abercrombie & Fitch credits brand portfolio ‘strength’ for driving record quarter
Abercrombie delivered full year 2024 net sales growth of 16% on comparable sales of 15%, with Hollister brands growing net sales by 15% on comparable sales of 19%. Horowitz claimed overall the company “greatly surpassed all 2025 financial targets”, describing both “both brand families” as highly profitable.
The company’s focus on geographic expansion in 2024 led to a 12% year-on-year growth in net sales for EMEA over the full year period.
According to CFO Robert Ball, in EMEA the UK and Germany “continue to lead the way”, while chief operating officer Scott Lipesky said the retailer has seen its “international business turn on”.
“As we came through 2022 into 2023 we invested in our teams in those regions. We’re back into opening stores. They’ve seen great results across UK, Germany and China, where we’ve really focused our efforts,” said Lipesky.
Full funnel marketing
On the call, Horowitz credited the brand’s marketing with engaging customers. For Abercrombie specifically, fourth quarter marketing spend was “around 7% of sales”, up 50 basis points from last year.
According to Ball, Hollister finished the year with marketing in line with the brand’s target “at around 5% of sales”. Going forward, the CFO anticipates the company will invest in “higher marketing spend”.
Lipesky explained the company plans to make investments, including in marketing, to drive brand growth further, the idea being to operate a “full funnel marketing strategy across brands and regions for the longer term.”
“As we capitalised on the global addressable market opportunity across brands, we invested in marketing to support product launches and seasonal traffic in the Americas, while also amplifying our voice in the UK and Germany,” said Horowitz, citing the recent Abercrombie & Fitch store opening on Oxford Street.
“We have successfully tested multiple brand reintroduction efforts in the UK and, more recently, moved to increase our brand engagement in Germany,” she added.
The CEO also claimed the business has seen “incredible acceptance” of its “new and improved category offerings” via social media campaigns and live events.
We invested in marketing to support product launches and seasonal traffic in the Americas, while also amplifying our voice in the UK and Germany
Fran Horowitz, Abercrombie & Fitch
Alongside social media, Horowitz credited the company’s partnerships with the likes of Formula One and the NFL.
“These categories, among others, play a part in the larger A&F brand story by driving new customer growth and strong customer retention that will continue to propel the brand forward,” she stated.
Ball pointed out the company takes a “disciplined approach to pricing” and is “mindful of customer value perception”, explaining promotional periods in January and February are key to “keep inventory turning”.
On promotions, the CFO claimed customers will ultimately tell the retailer “how far we can push” and reiterated the mantra that Abercrombie & Fitch’s teams are “obsessive about staying close to customers”.
Both store and digital channels were described as “highly profitable”, with new store openings highlighted as achievements.
“We see significant long-term addressable market opportunities for both Abercrombie and Hollister, and we expect to see both brands grow in 2025,” Horowitz concluded. “We are attracting and retaining customers, and focusing on the product most relevant to their daily lives to access the global growth opportunity.”
