Ralph Lauren has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter. The company reported a net income of $151.6 million, or $2.45 per share, compared to $129 million, or $2.03 per share, in the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $2.80, exceeding market expectations of $2.55.

Quarterly revenue increased by 17% year-over-year to $1.98 billion, surpassing analyst forecasts of $1.85 billion. This growth was significantly driven by a 31% surge in revenue from Asia, with particularly strong performance in the Chinese market, which benefited from robust consumer spending during the Lunar New Year holiday. Revenue in North America rose by 8%, while European revenue grew by 18%.

Globally, comparable store sales from direct-to-consumer channels increased by 17%. The company attributed this growth to positive performance across all regions and sales channels, supported by strong demand for full-priced merchandise, which helped elevate the average unit retail price.

Patrice Louvet, the company's Chief Executive Officer, stated that despite a complex and evolving market environment, balanced contributions from the brand's lifestyle categories, all geographic regions, and sales channels have driven positive overall performance for the fiscal year.

Louvet added that the company will continue to focus on driving growth and will actively leverage artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Looking ahead, the company forecasts revenue for the full fiscal year ending next March to grow at a mid-single-digit percentage on a constant currency basis, approximately 4% to 5%. Analysts project full-year revenue to be around $8.44 billion, representing an increase of about 4.1%.

For the upcoming quarter, Ralph Lauren anticipates revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits on a constant currency basis. Market estimates suggest revenue will increase by 6.8% to $1.84 billion.

In other corporate actions, Ralph Lauren has increased its quarterly dividend by 10% to $1.00 per share on an adjusted basis. Based on the closing stock price of $329.24 on Wednesday, this equates to an annual dividend of $4.00 per share, representing an annualized yield of approximately 1.2%. The dividend will be payable on July 10 to shareholders of record as of June 26.