(Reuters) – L Brands Inc <LB.N> said on Tuesday it was cutting 850 jobs, or 15% of its corporate workforce and projected a smaller-than-expected decline in second-quarter sales, sending its shares up 17% in extended trading.
Columbus, Ohio-based L Brands said it expects its total net sales for the second quarter to be down about 20% from a year earlier, but estimated an about 10% increase its Bath & Body Works unit.
Analysts on average were expecting L Brands’ total net sales to decline about 35% to $1.9 billion.
The Bath and Body Works division that had been outperforming its sister segment Victoria’s Secret prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, has kept the trend up even in a pandemic environment as U.S. consumers increasingly shun discretionary products such as pricey lingerie for personal care products such as sanitizers.
The company said it expects an about 40% decline in sales at Victoria’s Secret in the quarter.
The company, which has reopened most Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret Stores in North America after the easing of coronavirus-induced lockdowns, also said it would deliver about $400 million in annualized cost cuts for Victoria’s Secret as part of its cost-savings plan.
(Reporting by Aditi Sebastian and Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Maju Samuel)
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