The Canadian textile group Gildan Activewear Inc. closed the 2023 financial year with slight declines in sales and profits. The parent company of the American Apparel brand, which recently hit the headlines due to a controversial change in leadership, also announced on Wednesday that it expects an improvement in earnings for the current year.
In 2023, consolidated sales amounted to almost 3.20 billion US dollars (2.95 billion euros). This means that it missed the previous year’s level by 1.4 percent. In the fourth quarter, however, the group was able to increase its revenue by 8.7 percent to $782.7 million.
Due to positive special effects, operating profit rose by 6.7 percent to $643.9 million. However, the reported annual net profit was slightly below the previous year’s figure (-1.5 percent) at 533.6 million US dollars (493.3 million euros). Adjusted for one-off factors, it even shrank by 21.2 percent to $452.6 million.
Management does not expect any further losses for 2024. Sales should at least reach the previous year’s level or even grow by a “low single-digit percentage”. The forecast for earnings per share adjusted for special items, which reached $2.57 in 2023, is between $2.92 and $3.07, representing growth of 13.5 to 19.5 percent would correspond.