Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Marni Shapiro: And then can you just €“ I just want to clarify one thing, I think you said Express will have 40% ownership, WHP 60% ownership, is that of EXPR in total or of the new shares? And then

Tim Baxter: So, that’s a great question and one we should definitely . So, there are two things, let’s start with the IP joint venture that we have formed together. WHP is investing $235 million for a 60% stake in the joint venture €“ in the intellectual property joint venture, and we will maintain a 40% stake. The second piece is they are investing $25 million for 5.4 million newly issued shares of common stock at $4.60 per share, which represents a 7.4% proforma ownership of EXPR.

Marni Shapiro: Okay. So, they’re going to own 7.4% of EXPR and then they will own 60% of the joint venture and you guys will own €“ and the EXPR will own 40% of the joint venture?

Tim Baxter: Exactly.

Marni Shapiro: Got it. Okay. Just want to clarify that. And then last question, I’m sorry, but you touched on AUR. If you could just think forward to 2023, obviously, 2022 is wrapping up a little tougher, but there is prices to bring merchandise over freight costs and things are down even though freight costs in the U.S. are still high, can you just talk a little bit about opportunities or pressure you see going into 2023? And what the outlook looks like for AUR? Are your AUCs down in 2023 at all. So, is there room to, kind of pick back up on that conversation?

Tim Baxter: Yes, absolutely. So, as we move into 2023 and specifically in our women’s business where we’ve seen the greatest price sensitivity. As I said, Marni, and as you know in tops very specifically, we have €“ we are recalibrating our assortments to reintroduce more opening price points, more price points that are more in-line with where we have been historically. The reintroduction of some very powerful fashion mix. I think what €“ so I do €“ our average unit cost, yes, will be going down in specific categories. In other categories like jackets where we’ve seen exponential growth in both men’s and women’s, we’re winning in modern tailoring. We’ve seen very little price resistance actually there because the value we offer in those categories is so extraordinary.

So, we will not €“ we’re going to continue to push forward putting products first and we’ll get the right product. And in modern tailoring, we exist in a very powerful . But in the tops business specifically, we are recalibrating that. We’re reintroducing opening price points into the mix. We’re going to drive fashion very differently. We’re going to have much more versatility and much . We also got actually a little tight on our SKU counts, a little focused, too focused perhaps and needed greater breadth in our top assortment. And so, all of the work we’re doing, we believe we’ll get the women’s top business back on track as we move into Q1. And yes, there will be lower price points throughout the assortment.

Marni Shapiro: Great. Thank you. I’ll take the rest offline.

Tim Baxter: Thanks Marni. Great to talk to you.

Operator: The next question is from Eric Beder with SCC Research. Your line is open.

Eric Beder: Good morning. Congratulations.

Tim Baxter: Good morning, Eric.

Eric Beder: Good morning. I want to ask a small question about current and one about the WHP. Inventories, so you made some progress in the inventories. How should we be thinking about inventories end of the year and going forward?