denim results – DENIMSANDJEANS

Arvind’s Profits Up On Better Denim Performance – 3rd Quarter 2009

Sandeep Agarwal — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:26:15 +0000

The improvement in denim market has started to reflect on the balance sheets of denim mills in India

Arvind Mills from India has recently declared its financial results and has shown a profit of Rs 12.25 crores(USD 2.6 million approx.) for the third quarter as against a loss of Rs 33.17 crores(USD 7.5 million) in the corresponding period last year. Though the results are strictly not comparable because of demerger of its brands and retail business, they do reflect the positive sentiment on denim.

Here are some figures on denim fabrics :

Growth of 36% in volumes over last year.
16% growth in export volume .
Increase in domestic sale to 60% as against 54% last year – This also reflects the strong domestic market for denim in India.

The figures do bode well for the denim industry in India and we should see other companies also bringing out great results.

However, there are two factors which have been dampening the otherwise rosy scenario of denim industry :

Cotton Prices: Cotton prices have been firming up since the beginning of the season – almost 25% + and are not expected to mellow down in the coming months. Being a major component of the denim cost, the prices of cotton immediately affect the bottomline.
Weakening Dollar : The exchange rate of dollar against the Indian Rupee had reached levels of about INR 49- 49.50 per dollar. However, with strengthening rupee , the exchange rate has slid to about Rs 46 – a reduction of almost 6% +. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Arvind is focusing more on domestic market – of course not forgetting a 20% + growth rate in domestic demand of denim in India .

Surprising Fall In Levi’s 3rd Quarter Results -2009

Sandeep Agarwal — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:27:29 +0000

Levi Strauss & Co announced its financial results for the third quarter ended August 30, 2009 and they were surprisingly poor.

Both the turnover and net profit went down. Turnover was down 6% and net income was down 41%. This is surprising since denim has been the only one segment in the textile sector which has been showing positive growth in last one year. The imports of denim is also continuously rising in US with over 6% rise in imports of Women’s denim in the first 6 months of this year.

Levi’s Financial Results 3rd quarter 2009

Particulars	Quarter ending August 30, 2009	Quarter ending August 30, 2008	% Decrease
Net Revenues	$1.040 billion	$1.111 billion	-6 %
Net Income	$41 million	$69 million	-41%

The company’s says that its reflected the challenging global economy and the adverse effect of currency exchange rates compared to the prior year.At constant currency, the results change a bit, but still show the same trend .

The sales of the company region wise can also be seen below for this quarter. Both the Americas and European region have shown a fall in sales, and only the Asia Pacific region has shown an increase in sales .

Region wise sales of Levi’s products 3rd quarter 2008 &2009

Region	August 30,2009	August 30, 2008	% Change
Americas	$616 million	$649 million	-5% (-3% at constant currency)
Europe	$266 million	$306 million	-13% (-2% at constant currency)
Asia Pacific	$158 million	$156 million	+2% (+4% at constant currency)

Is Levi’s not yet able to fully adapt itself to the changing denim environment like some other companies . Does it need to do something more in the Premium denim segment like Gap ?

Denim Producer Weiqiao Textiles of China announces half yearly results

Sandeep Agarwal — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:05:52 +0000

Weiqiao Textile Company Limited of China is a non state-owned enterprise and the largest cotton textile producer in the PRC, specializing in the production, sales and distribution of cotton yarn, grey fabric and denim. Weiqiao Textile is located in Shandong, China’s second largest cotton producing province. The Group has four production bases in Weiqiao, Binzhou, Weihai and Zouping and employs approximately 132,000 people. For the half year ended 30 June 2008, the Group produced 422,000 tons of cotton yarn, 751,000,000 meters of grey fabric and 88,000,000 meters of denim.

Denim Results: The company produced about 88million mtrs of denim and achieved a turnover of RMB 704 million or about USD 104 million. This translates into an average price realisation per metre of fabric of about USD 1.20 . Though the company produces more of lighter weight denims(which are cheaper), still the average prices are quite low even if compared with denim companies in other Asian countries.