American marketer of leather accessories, Coach, Inc., has announced that it is raising its earnings expectations for the second fiscal quarter ended January 1, 2005 to at least $0.67 per share, following positive results for the period. This is above the company's guidance of at least $0.64 announced on October 26, 2004, as well as analysts' current consensus estimate of $0.66.

Sales for the second fiscal quarter ended January 1, 2005 increased 29% to $532 million from $412 million for the comparable quarter of the prior year. This sales increase exceeds the company's estimate provided during the October conference call of at least $505 million.

Direct-to-consumer sales increased 30% to $307 million from $237 million last year. US comparable store sales for the quarter rose 16.5%, with retail stores up 13.9% and factory store sales up 20.7%.

Indirect sales rose 29% to $225 million from $174 million in the same period last year. The strength in indirect was broad based, as significant sales growth in Japan and continued momentum in US department stores and International wholesale all contributed to these results. In Japan, Coach achieved high-single-digit increases in comparable location sales.

"We're delighted with the continued strength of our results and the success of our key holiday initiatives as total US sales rose 27%. Our performance speaks to the vitality of the Coach brand, as we continue to grow market share in a rapidly expanding US premium accessories category," commented Chairman and CEO of Coach, Lew Frankfort.

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