Lululemon athletica announced financial results for the third quarter ended October 30, 2016.
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Net revenue increased by 13% to $544.4 million from $479.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Total comparable sales, which includes comparable store sales and direct to consumer, increased by 7%. Comparable store sales increased by 4%.
Direct to consumer net revenue increased by 16% to $104.0 million
Gross profit increased by 24% to $278.4 million, and as a percentage of net revenue gross profit was 51.1% compared to 46.9% in the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Income from operations increased by 36% to $93.0 million from $68.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015, and as a percentage of net revenue was 17.1% compared to 14.2% of net revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Income tax expense increased to $25.3 million from $12.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015, and the effective tax rate was 27.0% compared to 18.6%.
Excluding certain tax and related interest adjustments, the effective tax rate was 31.3% compared to 28.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 were $0.50 compared to $0.38 in the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Excluding certain tax and related interest adjustments, diluted earnings per share were $0.47 for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 compared to $0.35 for the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
The Company ended the third quarter of fiscal 2016 with $480.4 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to $403.4 million at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Inventories at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2016 increased by 2% to $364.5 million compared to $357.8 million at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2015. The Company ended the quarter with 389 stores.
The company also announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program for up to $100 million of its common shares in the open market at prevailing market prices. ■