L Brands raises Q1 earnings outlook

L Brands, Inc. has increased its first quarter earnings guidance from a range of 35 cents to 45 cents to a range of 55 cents to 65 cents, excluding any charges related to the early extinguishment of debt.

Commenting on the update, Andrew Meslow, Chief Executive Officer of L Brands, said: “While the current environment still presents uncertainty, we have raised our earnings guidance for the first quarter due to strong sales and margin results quarter-to-date, which also contributed to an improvement in our expectations for the remainder of the quarter.”

The company also announced actions it is taking further enhance shareholder value. The company’s board of directors has authorized the repayment of 1.035 billion dollars of debt through a call of all 285 million dollars of the outstanding bonds due February 15, 2022 and all 750 million dollars of the outstanding secured bonds due July 1, 2025. The company anticipates using 1.1 billion dollars in cash to complete the debt repayment.

Additionally, the company said, a new 500 million dollars share repurchase plan has been approved, which replaces the remaining 79 million dollars under the previously authorized program. A reinstatement of the company’s annual dividend at 60 cents per share has been proposed, beginning with the quarterly dividend to be paid in June 2021.

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