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Coach Revises Second Quarter Earnings Expectations to Approximately $0.67, About 3% Below Prior Year?s $0.69

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  Published in House and Home on Thursday, January 8th 2009 at 13:55 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-08 13:56:12 by Market Wire
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NEW YORK--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Coach, Inc., (NYSE: COH), a leading marketer of modern classic American accessories, announced that it is lowering its earnings expectations for the second fiscal quarter ended December 27, 2008 to approximately $0.67 per share. This level is below last year's earnings of $0.69 per share and the company's previous guidance of $0.77.

Lew Frankfort, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coach, Inc. said, "This holiday season was exceptionally challenging. The unprecedented retail climate depressed traffic and conversion throughout our domestic full priced business, notably during the key weeks leading up to Christmas. Despite the heavily promotional environment, we maintained our retail prices, protecting our brand proposition."

• Sales for the second fiscal quarter ended December 27, 2008 decreased 2% to $960 million from $978 million for the comparable quarter of the prior year. This sales performance fell short of the company's previous estimate of about $1.05 billion.
• North American comparable store sales for the quarter declined 13%.
• The Company generated an operating margin of approximately 36% and substantial free cash flow during the quarter.

Given the uncertain environment, the Company will not provide earnings per share guidance for the second half or full year fiscal 2009. However, management will provide additional commentary on its current performance and outlook during its upcoming earnings conference call.

Results for the second fiscal quarter, which ended on December 27, 2008, are expected to be reported before the opening of the market on January 21, 2009 and to be discussed in a management-sponsored conference call and simultaneous webcast at 8:30 a.m. (EST) that day. Interested parties may listen to the webcast by accessing [ www.coach.com/investors ] on the Internet or dialing into 1-888-405-2080 and asking for the Coach earnings call led by Andrea Shaw Resnick, SVP of Investor Relations. A telephone replay will be available starting at 12:00 noon that day, for a period of five business days. The number to call is 1-866-352-7723. A webcast replay of the earnings conference call will also be available for five business days on the Coach website.

All results described above are based on preliminary financial statements.

Coach, with headquarters in New York, is a leading American marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men, including handbags, women's and men's small leathergoods, business cases, weekend and travel accessories, footwear, watches, outerwear, scarves, sunwear, fragrance, jewelry and related accessories. Coach is sold worldwide through Coach stores, select department stores and specialty stores, through the Coach catalog in the U.S. by calling 1-800-223-8647 and through Coach's website at [ www.coach.com ]. Coach's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COH.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "are positioned to," "continue," "project," "guidance," "target," "forecast," "anticipated," or comparable terms. Future results may differ materially from management's current expectations, based upon risks and uncertainties such as expected economic trends, the ability to anticipate consumer preferences, the ability to control costs, etc. Please refer to Coach's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete list of risk factors.