Gildan Activewear Q1 sales skyrocket 38.5%

First Quarter Results

Gildan reported net earnings of U.S. $35.3 million or U.S. $0.29 per share on a diluted basis for its first fiscal quarter ended December 30, 2012, compared with a net loss of U.S. $46.1 million or U.S. $0.38 per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Results for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 include restructuring and acquisition-related costs amounting to U.S. $3.8 million after tax, primarily related to the acquisition of Anvil Holdings Inc. (Anvil) and the further write-down of assets held for divestiture since the closure of U.S. sock manufacturing operations. Before the restructuring and acquisition-related costs, adjusted net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 were U.S. $39.1 million or U.S. $0.32 per share, compared to a net loss of U.S. $45.8 million or U.S. $0.38 per share in the first quarter of last year.

The Company had previously projected adjusted net earnings of U.S. $0.28-$0.31 per share for the first quarter, when it reported its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter and full year results on November 29, 2012. Results were slightly more favourable than projected due to lower than forecast promotional discounting in Printwear, partially offset by the impact of the cost of repairs at the Dominican Republic textile facility due to hurricane damage which amounts to approximately U.S. $0.02 per share, primarily in the first quarter, and which had not been reflected in the Company's previous earnings guidance.

The Company incurred a loss in the first quarter of last year due to a combination of factors including historically high costs of cotton, abnormally high levels of inventory destocking by wholesale distributors, a special distributor inventory devaluation discount, an abnormally high promotional discount rate in the U.S. distributor channel and an extended holiday manufacturing shutdown in order to manage inventory levels.

The significant improvement in the Company's results in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of last year was due to the benefit of significantly lower cotton costs, improved market conditions for Printwear and the accretion from the acquisition of Anvil. These positive factors were partially offset by lower selling prices for Printwear, primarily reflecting the selling price reductions implemented in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, and higher selling, general and administrative expenses.

Net sales in the first quarter amounted to U.S. $420.8 million, up 38.5% from U.S. $303.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. The Company had projected that sales for the first quarter would be in excess of U.S. $400 million. Sales for the Printwear segment amounted to U.S. $243.7 million, up 65.6% from U.S. $147.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, and sales for the Branded Apparel segment were U.S. $177.0 million, up 13.0% from U.S. $156.6 million for the first quarter of last year.