The parent company of furniture retail brand West Elm has reported a decline in sales during the second quarter of 2023.

According to its latest trading update for the first quarter ended 30 July 2023, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. reported overall sales of $1.8bn, down 11.9% from $2.1bn on the same period last year. Net earnings fell 24% to $201.5m from $267m.

For the half year period, sales were down 9.9% to $3.6bn from $4bn. Net earnings resulted at $358m, down from $521m.

Its West Elm brand saw revenues fall 20.8% to $484m from $608m, while the Williams Sonoma brand registered a decline of 0.7% to $245m. Pottery Barn sales also fell 10.6% to $786m.

“We are pleased to deliver another quarter of strong earnings. We significantly exceeded profitability estimates with an operating margin of 14.6% with earnings per share of $3.12, well-above our pre-pandemic results. Our sales ran -11.9% in Q2, but our 2-year comp was essentially flat, and our 4-year comp to 2019 was +39.7%. We achieved these results against an increasingly promotional environment and softening industry metrics by focusing on regular price selling, driving improved customer service and controlling costs,” said Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Connecting these results to our expectation for the balance of the year, we are updating our guidance to reflect both the ongoing topline uncertainty and the proven strength in our operating model. We now expect annual revenues to come in at a range of down 5% to down 10%, but we are raising our outlook on operating margin to a range of 15% to 16%. The reduction in our revenue outlook is offset by our raised operating margin guidance.”