Gildan Activewear Inc. reported net earnings of $5.8 million for the fiscal Q1 ended December 29, 2002, up 107% from $2.8 million in fiscal Q1 2002. EPS doubled to 20 cents. Analyst estimates were 16 cents per share.
The higher net earnings were due to a 24.2% increase in unit sales, a 240 basis point increase in gross margins and lower interest expense, offset by lower average selling price per unit.
Sales for the first quarter were $102.3 million, up 15.9% from $88.3 million in the first quarter of last year. The higher unit sales reflected 8.1% growth in overall industry shipments of T-shirts in the U.S. wholesale distributor market.
Gildan now anticipates that diluted EPS for the full 2003 fiscal year will be in the range of $2.70 – $2.80 per share. The Company had previously forecast diluted EPS of $2.60 – $2.70 per share.
All figures are in Canadian dollars.
KEY METRICS:
- T- shirt market share reached 31.4%, up 650 bps
- Sport shirts share increased to 14.7%, 540 bps
- Fleece share was 10.3%, up from 8.1% a year ago
- Europe unit sales increased by 54.5% vs. Q1 2002
- GM rose 240 bps
