Express, Inc. (EXPR) Provides Preliminary Second Quarter 2023 Results; Announces Further Strategic Actions and Goal to Deliver $200 Million in Annualized Savings by 2025

Fashion apparel retailer Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) (the “Company”) today announced certain preliminary financial results for the second quarter 2023, including net sales which are expected to be in the range of its previously-announced outlook of $400 million to $450 million, and diluted loss per share which is expected to be in the range of its previously-announced outlook of $0.50 to $0.60.

“We expect second quarter net sales and diluted loss per share to be within the ranges of our outlook. Net sales for the Express brand improved sequentially throughout the second quarter driven by the corrective actions we have taken to address imbalances in our women’s assortment architecture. These results give us confidence that we will continue to see improvement in net sales for the Express brand in the back half of the year,” said Tim Baxter, Chief Executive Officer. “Additionally, the integration of the Bonobos brand into our omnichannel platform and its performance are on track.”

“As we transform EXPR to create shareholder value, we are committed to driving long-term profitable growth and delivering positive free cash flow in our core Express business. We are conducting a comprehensive review of our business model to identify actions that we believe will meaningfully reduce pre-tax costs and enable a more efficient and effective organization. Today we are announcing a goal to deliver $150 million in annualized expense reductions by 2025 versus 2022 and have already identified and implemented $80 million for 2023 and $120 million for 2024. In addition, we are also aggressively pursuing at least $50 million in gross margin expansion opportunities by leveraging efficiencies in sourcing, production and the supply chain,” continued Baxter.

In May 2023, the Company announced it had identified and implemented $65 million of annualized cost reductions for fiscal 2023 versus fiscal 2022. Today the Company announced an additional $15 million of savings for a total of $80 million in annualized cost reductions identified and implemented for fiscal 2023. The annualized cost reductions of $120 million for fiscal 2024 include a workforce reduction which is expected to generate savings of approximately $30 million.

Charges associated with the workforce reduction are estimated to be approximately $5 million and were recognized in the second quarter of 2023.

The preliminary financial results included in this press release are unaudited and based on information available to the Company as of the date of this press release. Our actual financial results for the second quarter of 2023 may differ (and such differences may be material) from these preliminary estimates due to the completion of our financial closing procedures, final adjustments and other developments that may arise between the date of this press release and the time that our full financial statements for the second quarter of 2023 are finalized. As a result, you should not place undue reliance on these preliminary estimates, as they may differ materially from our actual results, including as a result of the factors discussed under “Forward-Looking Statements” below.