Abercrombie & Fitch delivered record second-quarter sales, prompting the retailer to raise its full-year outlook.

Hollister drove the performance with a 19 per cent sales increase, its strongest quarter to date. However, the Abercrombie brand fell 5 per cent, cycling a 26 per cent gain in the prior year.

For the quarter ending August 2nd, net sales rose 7 per cent year on year to $1.2 billion, with comparable sales up 3 per cent. Operating income reached $207 million, compared with $176 million a year earlier.

By region, the Americas rose 8 per cent and Apac climbed 12 per cent, while Emea slipped 1 per cent.

CEO Fran Horowitz said the results underscored the company’s resilience.

“We delivered record second-quarter net sales, exceeding our expectations, with 7 per cent growth over last year,” Horowitz said.

“On the bottom line, we exceeded our profitability expectations, while also returning $50 million to shareholders.”

The CEO added that the company is entering the second half “on offense,” supported by a higher sales outlook building on last year’s record results.

Abercrombie warned that tariffs on imports from Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and India will add $90 million in costs this year. In May, the company had forecast $50 million in tariff expenses after mitigating some of the impact.

Industry analysts also noted the momentum. Neil Saunders, MD at GlobalData, said the company’s consistent execution has been key.

“Stores and merchandising are on point, there is a good rate of refresh in the range, strong seasonality, and responsiveness to trends,” Saunders said

 “Even more impressive is the fact that this came off the back of a 16.1 per cent uplift in the prior year.”

He also pointed to Abercrombie Kids’ move into wholesale as a clever growth play.

“The US kids’ wear market was worth $82.1 billion last year, and Abercrombie & Fitch has a small share of that spend. Expanding through wholesale is a sensible strategy: it provides relatively fast access to new customers and requires far less capital than opening additional stores,” he added.