Guess Inc. GES, +1.28% responded on Thursday to proxy materials opposing the re-election of Paul and Maurice Marciano to the company’s board from activist investor Legion Partners, calling the effort a “massive distraction” to the company’s senior executives. “The company believes the foundation of Legion’s withhold campaign is based on information from the media and from misinformed and uncorroborated sources,” Guess said in a statement. “Guess has addressed these issues on multiple occasions and will continue to discuss them as appropriate with Guess shareholders going forward.” Legion has called for the ouster of the Guess co-founders after allegations of sexual misconduct. Legion has a roughly 2.5% stake in Guess. “The issue is simple: Paul Marciano has been allowed to remain in prominent roles at Guess despite a years-long pattern of shocking publicly reported sexual assault and harassment allegations against him,” Legion said in a statement. Late Wednesday, the clothing and accessories company reported fourth-quarter net income $68.4 million, or $1.04 per share, down from $70.4 million, or $1.07 per share, last year. Guess reported adjusted EPS of $1.14, below the FactSet consensus for $1.15. Revenue of $799.9 million was up from $648.5 million last year and below the FactSet consensus for $805.9 million. The company has approved a $100 million addition to the share repurchase program, bringing the available total to $249 million. The company will enter into an accelerated share repurchase of $175 million. Chief Financial Officer Katie Anderson will be leaving the company and former CFO Dennis Secor will step in on an interim basis while a permanent successor is found. For fiscal 2023, Guess is guiding for revenue up in the low single digits. The FactSet consensus is for $2.69 billion, implying 3.8% growth. Guess stock jumped 9.2% in Thursday trading, and is down 18.4% for the last year. The S&P 500 index SPX, +1.17% is up 9.6% for the past 12 months.
