Ascena Retail Group (ASNA)
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Hoang 1 Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Asna is a clothing company mostly catering to women at all ages. It was founded by Roslyn S. Jaffe in Stamford, Ct in 1962. They started off with the Dress Barn Brand, and over the years acquired other well-known brands such as Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey, Lane Bryant, Maurices, Dressbarn and Catherine's brands, and Justice brand. Their products include: dresses, tops, accessories, etc. ASNA strives to be the leading retailer when it comes to women fashion, they strive to be environmentally conscious and making an impact in the communities they work with. They have a total of 4,800 stores in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. In 2017, ASNA enacted a business strategy that will reduce their store count, eliminate executive positions, and create more support infrastructure for their brands. Finance reports included are reported from Ebsco Host and IBIS World which highlights their revenue in the last three years from 2015 to 2017. In general the swot analysis indicates that ASNA is doing well in terms of attracting a wide consumer preference but failed to capture overseas markets. ASNA is part of the women clothing industry. This industry is very competitive and very easy to enter. To succeed in this industry predicting consumer preference is essential. The clothing industry is not heavily regulated, but some laws are in place for this industry. The demand for clothing is expected to increase in the next few years due to higher income. But there is a shift in consumer’s preference and how they shop that has caused many well-known companies to restructure their business entirely. This industry might be affected by changes in policy regarding trade and currency. Starting in 2015 this business went through lawsuits and purchases that caused huge debt for the company. This company is reported to have issues such as a huge DE Ratio, low stock prices, and decline in revenue due to competitors. To deal with these issues, proposed solutions include closing down stores that were not profitable, and focus heavily on anchoring themselves in key fashion areas in order to lower their costs and decrease their huge debt, solution 2 was to focus on marketing one of their successful brands further through social media because its reported to be the brand that is making the most revenue for them according to their 10-report for 2017, and thirdly, in order to tap into potential revenue from overseas markets, a strong e-commerce friendly platform needs to be developed. a weighted matrix was used to figure out what solution should be proposed for the year 2019. based off the result solution 3 was chosen, and a cost and benefit analysis highlights how it will affect the company’s prospects as a result. And based off of this solution how it will potentially affect stakeholders as well.It is key that this company should focus on closing down underperforming stores in their portfolio, invest heavily Hoang 2 in e-commerce, and focus on leading consumer preference and trends to guide the implementation of a successful product marketing strategy. Company Discussion Introduction According to Ascena Retail’s website, “Ascena retail group, inc. (NASDAQ: ASNA) is a leading national specialty retailer offering apparel, shoes, and accessories for women under the Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey, Lane Bryant, Maurices, Dressbarn and Catherines brands, and for tween girls under the Justice brand. ascena retail group, inc. operates ecommerce websites and over 4,800 stores throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico”(ascenaretail.com). It was founded by Roslyn S. Jaffe, she opened the first Dress Barn store in Stamford CT, in 1962. (ascenaretail.com) ASNA is headquartered in Mahwah, New Jersey (Ebsco Host). As of July 29, 2017 ASNA has approximately 64,000 employees, 48,000 are part-time employees. Temporary employees are added during peak season (SEC). Ascena focuses mainly on women apparel and accessories, they started out with the Dress Barn brand, and over the years purchased other well-known brands to add to their portfolio, they mainly operate in the US and Canada. Mission “One of ascena's core purposes is to provide all women and girls with fashion and inspiration for living confidently every day. Our commitment to women and girls is a driving force throughout Ascena and guides the business decisions we make every day”(ascenaretail.com). ASNA’s core purpose is to inspire and give women and girls confidence through the products they sell. The company makes decisions that will serve their target audience, which are women at all ages (EBSCOHOST). Vision “In short, our aspiration is to be a leader in responsible fashion and impact our communities, while inspiring all women and girls to change the world” (ascenaretail.com). Customers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and some customers choose to avoid companies that don’t stand by such principles altogether. Being a clothing company, ASNA’s vision statement reflects that they want to send a clear message to consumers that they also value these beliefs through their actions. Values 2 Hoang 3 “We are a family of brands that respects and serves women and girls.” They respect the people they cater to, which is women. They value being socially responsible when it comes to the environment and the people that work for them. (ascenaretail.com) Current Business Strategy “In the first quarter of Fiscal 2017, the Company initiated a transformation plan with the objective of supporting sustainable long-term growth and increasing shareholder value...The Company realized savings of approximately $65 million during Fiscal 2017...Activities associated with the Change for Growth program are currently expected to continue through fiscal 2019” (EDGAR). In the first quarter of 2017, ASNA changed its operating model by eliminating a number of executive positions and making organizational changes that created “premium fashion”, “value fashion”, “plus fashion”, and “kids fashion”. They also allocated brand support services such as human resource, real estate, non-merchandise procurement, and asset protection for the brands they own. Stores that were not profitable were either closed down or rent reduced. One of the company’s biggest focus is converting sales in the physical stores into e-commerce sales. They have acquired many brands including “Maurices”, “Dress Barn”, Lane Bryant”, “Catherines”, “Justice”, and most recently in 2015 “Loft” and “Ann Taylor”. They are still working on integrating the new business through the year 2018 and 2019. (EDGAR) Stakeholders Stakeholders Stake 1. Employees 1. Job Security, Benefits 2. Communities 2. Loss jobs hurt the local economy 3. Competitors 3. Less competition does not create 4. Suppliers healthy competition, which hurt 5. Customers consumer’s bottom line 4. Lose a huge source of their revenue, which will hurt their industry and the people who work in it 5. Will have less choices to make and will not be able to benefit from product innovation due to less competitors 3 Hoang 4 Opposing Stakes: Similar Stakes: Customers and Competitors have opposing The employees and the communities both stakes because Customers want to see an benefit from the company through the jobs increase in healthy competition because the and benefits it provides. Jobs lead to paying customer will benefit from competitive local tax and leisure spending. Which pricing and more options to spend their improves and maintains public infrastructure money. But competitors want to improve their that benefits the people living there. profits and it’s hard to do that in a competitive market with too many competitors. Financial Overview “The company reported revenues of (US Dollars) US$6,995.4 million for the fiscal year ended July 2016 (FY2016), an increase of 45.6% over FY2015. The operating profit of the company was US$94.6 million in FY2016, compared to an operating loss of US$234.9 million in FY2015. The net loss of the company was US$11.9 million in FY2016, compared to a net loss of US$236.8 million in FY2015”(EBSCO). The data reported above is from a different database then the one discussed in the bottom paragraph. Having two separate analyses of the data presented can confirm the accuracy of the reported information. According to Business Insight Global database, ASNA’s 3 year revenue is as followed: In 2015 they had a revenue of 4802.9 million. In 2016, they reported a revenue of 6995.4 million. In 2017, they reported a revenue of 6649.8 million. In 2016, revenue increased 45.64%, but in 2017, decreased by 4.94%. Their revenue is consistent with last years revenue, but overall their revenue dropped. 2015 was not their best performing year, but they made a good recovery in 2016. In 2017, the revenue dropped slightly. ASNA’s 3 year profit is as follows: In 2015 they made a profit of 2669.2 million. In 2016 they made a profit of 3928.7 million . In 2017, they made a profit of 3859.6 million. Profits increased by 47.18% in 2016, but decreased by 1.75% in 2017. Once again 2015 reported low profit margins, but they were able to recover in 2016 (Business Insights: Global). Financial History ASNA used to be under the Dress Barn name. Due to the name change, ASNA’s oldest stock report is April 20, 2017, which reported the highest stock price of 4.10 and in April 19, 2018 a price of 2.27. Even though there isn’t much financial history on this company due to 4 Hoang 5 the name change, one thing is certain something must have taken place before the name changed that led to the decline in stock price.