Montreal - Even as one of the world's largest suppliers of casualwear and socks, Gildan Activewear has demonstrated that even a company of its size is not invulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Announcing its fourth quarter and full year results, the Montreal firm has reported a US$225.3 million loss for 2020, down from a net profit of $259.8 million in 2019.
Encouragingly, with the impact of the pandemic on operations clear on the company’s sales, which were $1.98 billion, down 30 per cent from $2.82 billion the previous year, the performance rebounded somewhat in the final quarter with a 4 per cent increase in sales to $690.2 million. Net earnings for the quarter were $67.4 million, compared to net earnings of $32.5 million, in the fourth quarter last year.
Outlining the results, Glenn J. Chamandy, President and CEO of Gildan said that Gildan's Back to Basics strategy had put it on a sound footing going into the pandemic and the additional actions taken during 2020 enhanced its competitive positioning. “Against the backdrop of the pandemic and the headwind of back-to-back hurricanes in Central America our team showed exceptional operational execution and delivered strong results for the fourth quarter,” he said.
Despite these strong results, the quarter had its challenges. Starting early November, two back-to-back hurricanes hit Central America and Gildan suspended production temporarily at its Rio Nance complex and at other locations in Honduras and Nicaragua.
The hurricanes caused equipment, inventory and other damages, and facilities in certain locations were closed through November and part of December before it started to reopen and ramp back production. "As we managed through this disruption, we continued to service our customers during the fourth quarter from existing inventories, production from other regions, and production earlier in the quarter in Central America," Chamandy added. "While responsibility and sustainability has always been at the core of how we do business, 2020 has amplified the importance of strong environmental, social, governance (ESG) practices as an integral part of our strategy. To this end, we were pleased that for the eighth year running we were included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2020, we were recognized as a top performer on CDP’s 2020 Climate Change Report and more recently, we received the Silver Class distinction in The Sustainability Yearbook 2021.”
Given the ongoing impact of COVID-19, Gildan said it was not providing financial guidance for 2021.
