PVH's Asia-Pacific business keeps growing as Calvin Klein slides globally

PVH Corp, the New York-based owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, reported second-quarter revenue of $2.097bn for the three months to August 2, down 3% year on year on both a reported and constant-currency basis, according to the company's quarterly filing dated September 2.

Calvin Klein carried most of the decline: revenue fell 7% to $913.3m, which the company said partly reflects the timing of wholesale shipments in the Americas. Tommy Hilfiger held flat at $1.13bn, helped by roughly three percentage points of uplift from bringing previously licensed women's categories in-house.

Asia-Pacific was the exception. Revenue in the region rose 3% to $343.7m on a reported basis (up 1% in constant currency), driven by direct-to-consumer sales even as the region's wholesale business declined, according to the release.

PVH does not break out Japan on its own, but the country sits inside that Asia-Pacific figure, and both labels remain fixtures of Japanese department-store menswear and womenswear floors and mall anchors — so a region growing against a shrinking global book is the detail Japan-facing buyers and landlords will watch most closely.

PVH also beat its own guidance for the quarter: non-GAAP operating margin came in at 11.1% against a forecast of 9.5%, and non-GAAP earnings per share were $3.70 versus a guided range of $3.00-$3.10. Full-year guidance was reaffirmed at roughly flat reported revenue (a slight decline in constant currency), non-GAAP operating margin near 8.8% and EPS of $11.80-$12.10.

Management pointed to momentum in direct-to-consumer sales in the Americas and Asia-Pacific as behind the beat, according to the release — a sign PVH is leaning on its own stores and e-commerce, rather than wholesale, to offset a soft Calvin Klein.