Gildan Activewear 4Q profit up but misses St. view
Gildan Activewear 4Q profit grows, helped by lower cotton costs, but misses St. view
NEWS: Gildan Activewear Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 9 percent, helped by lower cotton costs and double-digit revenue growth. But its adjusted profit and earnings outlook for the current quarter fell short of analysts' expectations, and shares slid.
DETAILS: Gildan —which owns brands such as Gold Toe and Anvil — boosted its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 10.8 cents from 9 cents. The dividend is payable on Jan. 6 to shareholders of record on Dec. 12.
NUMBERS: For the three months ended Sept. 29, Gildan earned $96.8 million, or 79 cents per share. That's up from $89 million, or 73 cents per share, last year.
Excluding a cost related to unwinding interest rate swaps and restructuring and acquisition-related costs, earnings were 83 cents per share.
Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 84 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Revenue for the Canadian company increased 12 percent, to $626.2 million from $561.7 million. Wall Street forecast $604.8 million.
For the full fiscal year, Gildan earned $320.2 million, or $2.61 per share. In the previous year it earned $148.4 million, or $1.22 per share. Adjusted profit was $2.69 per share. Annual revenue climbed 12 percent, to $2.18 billion from $1.95 billion.
FUTURE: For the first quarter, the company foresees adjusted earnings of 33 cents to 35 cents per share on revenue of approximately $450 million. Wall Street predicted earnings of 42 cents per share.
For the year, Gildan anticipates fiscal 2014 adjusted earnings in a range of $3 to $3.10 per share, with revenue of about $2.35 billion. Analysts predict full-year earnings of $3.16 per share on revenue of $2.38 billion.
STOCK: The shares fell $1.96, or 4 percent, to $47.13 Thursday. Shares have gained 29 percent this year.