Gildan’s printwear sales rise by 14%

Gildan has released its Q1 results for the three months ending April 5.

The results show that for the three months Gildan’s printwear sales rose by 14% and its branded apparel sales were up 20%.

Net sales for the printwear sector for the quarter totalled US $431.3 million, up US $52.8 million or 13.9% from US $378.5 million in the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

The company attributes this rise in sales to strong unit sales volume growth in US and international printwear markets and more favourable product-mix.

Printwear sales reflected good growth in sales of high-valued activewear products, partially due to seasonally colder weather.

Operating income in printwear for the three months ended April 5, 2015 totalled U.S. $84.0 million, down from U.S. $92.2 million in the same period last year. Operating margins for printwear were 19.5% compared with 24.4% in the corresponding quarter of last year. The decline was mainly due to the timing of printwear selling price reductions, which were implemented in advance of anticipated manufacturing cost savings from the company’s yarn-spinning investments and other capital projects, and while the company was still consuming higher-cost cotton in inventories. In addition, operating margins in the quarter were negatively impacted by the continued decline in international currencies relative to the US dollar.

Looking forward, Gildan projects that sales growth for printwear for this calendar year will rise by approximately 12% and branded apparel is to be in excess of 20%. Net sales for the company is expected to be in excess of US $2.65 billion.

Gildan continues to believe that it is well positioned for earnings growth in calendar 2016. The company expects to benefit from continuing volume growth and further manufacturing cost reductions, including the benefit of ramping up the company’s new yarn-spinning facilities combined with lower cotton costs.