Chip Bergh isn’t quite able to make his last lap at Levi Strauss & Co. — however the chief executive officer, who’s preparing at hand the reins over to Michelle Gass, is actually seeking to finish strong. 

The corporate on Wednesday topped estimates in what was a tougher fourth-quarter and continued to realize in what turned out to be a decidedly mixed yr for the style industry. 

For the fiscal yr ended Nov. 27, Levi’s tallied net income of $569 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.50 on $6.2 billion in sales, a gain of seven percent on a reported basis and a 12 percent increase in constant currencies. 

“We’re really completely happy with the yr,” Bergh told WWD. “It was a yr of two halves of course — a really, very strong first half after which midsummer we saw demand start to melt as inflation began to take hold, fear of recession and wholesale customers beginning to reduce on their open to buys.”

Levi Strauss — which is understood for denim, but additionally owns Dockers and Beyond Yoga — continued to realize in key respects at the same time as the market weakened. 

“Because the [denim] category grew globally at about 1 percent, we built share, we actually grew market share greater than another player within the category,” Bergh noted, adding that the corporate has gained market share in five of the last six years and held its own through the COVID-19 lockdowns.

However the slowdown within the autumn — which hit nearly everyone in fashion outside of luxury — still took its toll. 

Levi Strauss’ fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 1 percent to $151 million, or 38 cents a diluted share, from $153 million, or 37 cents, a yr earlier. 

Adjusted income of 34 cents a share got here in 5 cents ahead of the 29 cents analysts projected. 

Sales for the three months decreased by 6 percent to $1.6 billion from $1.7 billion a yr earlier. 

The denim firm’s direct-to-consumer revenues fell 2 percent on a reported basis and rose 6 percent in constant currencies. Wholesale revenues slipped 8 percent, or 4 percent in constant currencies. Global digital revenues for the quarter were down 7 percent — but up about 29 percent from before the pandemic.  

Despite the declines, Bergh said: “Clearly our strategies are working and we feel like we’re very well arrange for fiscal 2023.”

Ultimately, it’s going to be as much as Gass, the previous Kohl’s Corp. CEO who’s currently president at Levi Strauss, to follow through on those strategies. 

Gass began on Jan. 2 and has been settling into the role, where she leads the Levi’s brand and the corporate’s global digital and industrial operations — which together account for about 85 percent of the corporate’s earnings.

For now, Bergh said his life hasn’t modified. 

“I’m still working each day,” he said.

But he reiterated that the corporate goes to be in good hands.

“Nothing prepares you to be a CEO apart from being a CEO,” he said. “We’re blessed to have an experienced CEO joining us. She’s really made an amazing first impression for the team. She and I even have mapped out the transition and we’re going to be hitting the road loads and spending plenty of time in markets and stores together. She’s going to have a positive impact this yr and start to set her agenda up.”

Gass’ arrival, though, is beginning to bring change. 

Chief financial officer Harmit Singh added the extra title of chief growth officer and is working closely with each Bergh, who he’s been with for 10 years, and Gass.  

“We would like to be a $9 [billion] to $10 billion company,” Singh said. “I’m going to work with them each to make sure that we allocate resources to execute the long-term plan.” 

As a part of the brand new role, Singh will probably be specializing in real estate and dealing with landlords and using the facility of the corporate’s portfolio to expand its three brands. 

Growth is likely to be harder to return by this yr. 

Levi Strauss is projecting revenues of $6.3 billion to $6.4 billion this yr, growth of 1.5 to three percent, including 200 basis points of headwinds from currency fluctuations and the suspension of the firm’s operations in Russia. Adjusted earnings per share are slated to slide to $1.30 to $1.40.

“This yr can be going to be a tale of two halves where the primary half might be going to be just a little softer,” Singh said, pointing to macroeconomic weakness now and difficult comparisons with the primary half of 2022.