The Canadian textile group Gildan Activewear Inc. closed the 2021 financial year with a significant increase in sales. In addition, the parent company of the American Apparel brand returned to profitability. This emerges from current figures published by the company on Wednesday.
Accordingly, the annual turnover of the group amounted to 2.92 billion US dollars (2.58 billion euros). This represented an increase of 47.5 percent compared to the previous year, when the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic had weighed heavily on business. In the activewear segment, sales grew by 57.8 percent to 2.36 billion US dollars, sales of hosiery and lingerie increased by 15.5 percent to 557.8 million euros.
After the company had to accept a net loss of 225.3 million US dollars in the previous year, not least due to high value adjustments and restructuring costs, the bottom line was in the black again in 2021: The reported net income for the year was 607.2 million US dollars (535 .8 million euros). Adjusted for special effects, the net profit reached a level of 538.1 million US dollars, the corresponding deficit of the previous year had amounted to 36.3 million US dollars.
The group also announced its new growth strategy, Gildan Sustainable Growth. According to the company, this envisages annual sales increases of an average of seven to ten percent for the next three years. The details of the plans are to be presented on March 29 at an investor day.