May 4, 2022 – Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL: TSX and NYSE) announced results for the first quarter ended April 3, 2022. “Record results in the first quarter and a strong start to 2022 reflect the impact of Gildan’s Sustainable Growth (GSG) strategy,” said Glenn J. Chamandy, Gildan president and CEO. “Our team’s clear focus on capacity driven growth, innovation and ESG, leveraging our world class, vertically-integrated manufacturing platform, is putting us in a strong position to service customer demand while effectively managing inflationary cost pressures.”
Sales for the first quarter ending April 3, 2022, totalled $775 million, up 31% over the prior year, consisting of activewear sales of $667 million, up 38% over the prior year, and sales in the hosiery and underwear category of $108 million, up 3% over last year. The activewear sales increase was largely driven by volume growth and net selling price increases, as well as favourable product-mix. Activewear volume growth reflected strong demand in North American markets, particularly in the distributor channel, partly offset by lower international shipments due to ongoing demand weakness in Europe and Asia.
The overall increase in North American distributor activewear shipments in the quarter was due to higher sell-through driven by continued recovery of large events, travel and other end use markets. Volume growth with distributors also reflected our improved production levels compared to last year which allowed us to better service seasonal inventory requirements and support growth. In the hosiery and underwear category, higher sales were primarily driven by higher selling prices.
Gildan generated operating income of $162 million, or 20.9% of sales and adjusted operating income of $158 million, or 20.4% of sales, in the first quarter of 2022 compared to operating income of $114 million, or 19.3% of sales, and $110 million, or 18.7% of sales, on an adjusted basis last year. The increase in operating and adjusted operating income was due to higher sales, and improved operating margins driven by SG&A leverage.