Fashion retailer Ralph Lauren witnessed higher third-quarter net income and revenue, thanks to its positive performance during the holiday season.

The brand’s net income grew 27.8 per cent to $276.6 million as revenue jumped 5.6 per cent to $1.93 billion.

GlobalData MD Neil Saunders said that the revenue increase “shows that the brand was firmly on the front foot over the holiday season” while the net income improvement is “helped by strong expense management, lower freight costs, and improved product margins.”

Ralph Lauren’s Europe revenue inched 11 per cent higher to $522 million while its Asia revenue rose 16 per cent to $446 million.

However, its North American revenue stood flat at $933.3 million as its wholesale revenue declined 15 per cent, in line with the company’s expectations due to carefully managing sell-in to align with consumer demand in the channel.

“The decline in wholesale comes as no particular surprise as not only are retailers more cautious in terms of inventory buys, but many of them do very little to drive the sell-through of Ralph Lauren products,” said Saunders.

“Over the longer term, we believe that Ralph Lauren needs to bolster its direct channels by opening more stores and building its own presence in many key North American markets and locations where it does not currently have a physical presence.”

Meanwhile, for the full year, Ralph Lauren forecasts revenues to increase by about low-single digits, now centering around 2 per cent.