Gross profit decreased 4 percent to $438 million compared to $455 million in the second quarter of 2005. Gross margin was 46.0 percent of revenues for the second quarter of 2006 compared to 47.4 percent of revenues in the same period last year. The reduced gross margin in the 2006 period was primarily due to Europe and the US Levi's and Dockers brands as a result of changes in sales mix, increased investment in products and higher sales allowances to support customers' marketing efforts, partially offset by an improvement in the margin for the US Levi Strauss Signature brand.
“I'm encouraged by our growth in North America and Asia and our progress in Europe,” said Hans Ploos van Amstel, Chief Financial Officer. “We continue to deliver strong margins while investing in our business. This, together with our working capital improvement, continues to yield strong free cash flow, which remains our key focus.”
Levi Strauss & Co is one of the world's leading branded apparel companies, marketing its products in more than 110 countries worldwide. It designs and markets jeans and jeans-related pants, casual and dress pants, shirts, jackets and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi's, Dockers and Levi Strauss Signature brands.
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.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
