Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX: GIL)(NYSE: GIL) is currently obtaining
information in order to fully evaluate the impact of the Haiti
earthquake on the operations and employees of its sub-contractors
in the country. Gildan has no vertically-integrated manufacturing
facilities in Haiti, but uses third party contractors to sew the
majority of the fabric produced at its Dominican Republic textile
facility. Initial indications are that two out of the three
contractor facilities used by Gildan are intact, while the third
and smallest contractor facility has suffered substantial damage.
The Company's textile and sewing facilities in the Dominican
Republic have not been affected by the earthquake.
Gildan's Dominican Republic/Haiti manufacturing hub is currently
dedicated to supplying a portion of the Company's basic T-shirt
requirements for the U.S. screenprint market. The Company is in a
strong inventory position and is immediately implementing
contingency plans to minimize likely short-term disruption of
contractor production in Haiti by increasing production at its
integrated sewing facilities in the Dominican Republic, Honduras
and Nicaragua, in order to continue to be well positioned to
service demand in the peak summer selling season for T-shirts. The
supply of products for the Company's retail customers is not
affected by the situation in Haiti.
The Company will provide a further analysis and update as soon
as it has more complete information on the status of its Haitian
sewing contractors and the country logistics and
infrastructure.
Most importantly, Gildan's management wishes to express its
concern for the well-being of the people of Haiti and is committed
to playing a leadership role in efforts to provide humanitarian aid
to the country.
Profile
Gildan is a vertically-integrated marketer and manufacturer of
quality branded basic apparel. The Company is the leading supplier
of activewear for the screenprint channel in the U.S. and Canada.
It is also a leading supplier to this market in Europe, and is
establishing a growing presence in Mexico and the Asia-Pacific
region. The Company sells T-shirts, sport shirts and fleece in
large quantities to wholesale distributors as undecorated "blanks",
which are subsequently decorated by screenprinters with designs and
logos. Consumers ultimately purchase the Company's products, with
the Gildan label, in venues such as sports, entertainment and
corporate events, and travel and tourism destinations. The
Company's products are also utilized for work uniforms and other
end-uses to convey individual, group and team identity. The Company
is also a leading supplier of private label and Gildan branded
socks primarily sold to mass-market retailers. In addition, Gildan
has an objective to become a significant supplier of men's and
boys' underwear and undecorated activewear products to mass-market
retailers in North America.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this press release constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities
legislation and regulations, and are subject to important risks,
uncertainties and assumptions. This forward-looking information
includes, amongst others, information with respect to our
objectives and the strategies to achieve these objectives, as well
as information with respect to our beliefs, plans, expectations,
anticipations, estimates and intentions. Forward-looking statements
generally can be identified by the use of conditional or
forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect",
"intend", "estimate", "project", "assume", "anticipate", "plan",
"foresee", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms
or variations of them or similar terminology. We refer you to the
Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulatory
authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as
well as the "Risks and Uncertainties" section and the risks
described under the section "Financial Risk Management" of the 2009
Annual MD&A for a discussion of the various factors that may
affect the Company's future results. Material factors and
assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a
forecast or projection are also set out throughout this
document.
Forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and the
results or events predicted in such forward-looking information may
differ materially from actual results or events. Material factors,
which could cause actual results or events to differ materially
from a conclusion, forecast or projection in such forward-looking
information, include, but are not limited to:
- our ability to implement our growth strategies and plans,
including achieving market share gains, implementing cost reduction
initiatives and completing and successfully integrating
acquisitions;
- the intensity of competitive activity and our ability to
compete effectively;
- adverse changes in general economic and financial conditions
globally or in one or more of the markets we serve;
- our reliance on a small number of significant customers;
- the fact that our customers do not commit contractually to
minimum quantity purchases;
- our ability to anticipate changes in consumer preferences and
trends;
- our ability to manage inventory levels effectively in relation
to changes in customer demand;
- fluctuations and volatility in the price of raw materials used
to manufacture our products, such as cotton and polyester
fibres;
- our dependence on key suppliers and our ability to maintain an
uninterrupted supply of raw materials;
- the impact of climate, political, social and economic risks in
the countries in which we operate, including the current political
instability in Honduras;
- disruption to manufacturing and distribution activities due to
labour disruptions, political instability, bad weather, natural
disasters and other unforeseen adverse events;
- changes to international trade legislation that the Company is
currently relying on in conducting its manufacturing operations or
the application of safeguards thereunder;
- factors or circumstances that could increase our effective
income tax rate, including the outcome of any tax audits or changes
to applicable tax laws or treaties;
- compliance with applicable environmental, health and safety
laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate;
- our significant reliance on computerized information systems
for our business operations;
- changes in our relationship with our employees or changes to
domestic and foreign employment laws and regulations;
- negative publicity as a result of violation of labour laws or
unethical labour or other business practices by the Company or one
of its third-party contractors;
- our dependence on key management and our ability to attract
and retain key personnel;
- changes to and failure to comply with consumer product safety
laws and regulations, including the recently enacted U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act;
- changes in environmental, tax, trade, employment,
- changes in accounting policies and estimates; and
- exposure to risks arising from financial instruments,
including credit risk, liquidity risk, foreign currency risk and
interest rate risk.
These factors may cause the Company's actual performance and
financial results in future periods to differ materially from any
estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements do not take into account the effect that transactions or
non-recurring or other special items announced or occurring after
the statements are made, may have on the Company's business. For
example, they do not include the effect of business dispositions,
acquisitions, other business transactions, asset write-downs or
other charges announced or occurring after forward-looking
statements are made. The financial impact of such transactions and
non-recurring and other special items can be complex and
necessarily depends on the facts particular to each of them.
We believe that the expectations represented by our
forward-looking statements are reasonable, yet there can be no
assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The
purpose of the forward-looking statements is to provide the reader
with a description of management's expectations regarding the
Company's fiscal 2010 financial performance and may not be
appropriate for other purposes. Furthermore, unless otherwise
stated, the forward-looking statements contained in this report are
made as of the date of this report, and we do not undertake any
obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise unless required by applicable
legislation or regulation. The forward-looking statements contained
in this report are expressly qualified by this cautionary
statement.
Contacts: Laurence G. Sellyn Executive Vice-President, Chief
Financial and Administrative Officer 514-343-8805
lsellyn@gildan.com Sophie Argiriou Director, Investor
Communications 514-343-8815 sargiriou@gildan.com Genevieve Gosselin
Director, Corporate Communications 514-343-8814
ggosselin@gildan.com
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