Delta Apparel Inc. reported net sales in July grew over 10 percent compared to the prior-year period with growth in each of its business units. The Delta Group and Salt Life segments reported year-over-year growth of 9 percent and 23 percent, respectively, in July.
Robert W. Humphreys, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, commented, “The start to our fourth quarter has exceeded our expectations with July double-digit net sales growth. This marked our fourth consecutive month of sequential sales improvement for both the Delta Group and Salt Life Group segments. We are particularly pleased to see a return to growth across all business units with notable strength in our DTG2Go digital print business achieving an over 50 percent sales increase year-over-year. Sales of Delta Catalog products grew double-digits, propelled by strength in the retail licensing channel and improving dynamics in other sales channels. The Soffe business delivered solid growth during July. Consumers continued to seek Soffe products across multiple distribution channels including the Soffe consumer website which enjoyed 115 percent growth over the prior year. The momentum in our Salt Life business continued in July with approximately 60 percent growth in our key direct-to-consumer e-commerce and retail channels in addition to double-digit growth in the wholesale channel.”
The company serviced customer demand during the June quarter and through July primarily with its on-hand inventory position in the United States. By the end of June, all manufacturing facilities were operating and producing inventory to meet current market demand. While the ramp-up of production has exceeded the company’s expectations, the near term growth momentum, particularly for Delta Catalog products, maybe somewhat hampered until inventory can be fully replenished.
Humphreys continued, “Our strong July performance further strengthens our commitment to return to fourth-quarter profitability on both a reported and adjusted basis. Our teams are working hard to satisfy the broad-based demand we are seeing in the market, and we look forward to updating you with our progress and other business initiatives as the quarter progresses.”
Delta Apparel’s operating subsidiaries include DTG2Go, Salt Life and M.J. Soffe.
Photo courtesy Delta Apparel
