Coach keeps carrying Tapestry Inc. higher — now Kate Spade just has to pull its weight.

Sales of the powerhouse Coach handbag brand shot up 14 percent to $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter, giving a little accessible luxury luster to the company.

But Kate Spade continued to be a drag on the top line with business down 13 percent to $252.6 million in the quarter. The quirky handbag brand has been a trouble spot for Tapestry for some time and led to $855 million in asset and goodwill impairment charges in the quarter.

Those charges, which are dictated by accounting rules and have no practical impact on operations, write down a good deal of the $2.4 billion the company paid to buy Kate Spade in 2017 and pushed Tapestry to a net loss of $517 million in the fourth quarter.

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