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With the activist battle now in the rear-view mirror, Gildan Activewear Inc. has much to look forward to in 2025.
“By reinforcing our core competencies as a low-cost, large-scale, vertically integrated sustainable manufacturer, we continued to enhance our competitive advantage, and we are well positioned for continued growth in the years ahead,” Glenn J. Chamandy, Gildan’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
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During a company conference call Wednesday after posting fourth-quarter results, Chamandy said the company Sustainable Growth Strategy (GSG) is “clearly driving profitable growth, as we are extremely pleased with our progress.” He said the company ended 2024, its 40th anniversary year, with “record revenues of about $3.3 billion.”
“We’re also committed and continuing executing on our GSG strategy across all our three pillars, capacity, innovation, and ESG,” he said, emphasizing the tees, sweats and fleece giant’s ability to “deliver on our three-year objectives we have laid out for 2025 to 2027 period, which include net sales of mid-single digit range, and adjusted diluted [earnings per share] growth in the mid-teen range.
He also spoke about strong drivers for 2025, which include new innovation and “very good reception” to Gildan’s Soft Cotton Technology. “We’re also excited about our Plasma Print Technology and other innovations such as Color Blast in our Comfort Colors brand, which we are seeing significant growth. In fact, the brand is up 40 percent for the full year in 2024,” Chamandy said. He also noted that the company is expanding its product line through distributors under the Champion brand via the license that was secured for the printwear channel.
“Our international business has seen a 20 percent increase in sales the last two quarters as these markets have started to recover, and our ability to service now stronger given the capacity expansion in Bangladesh and our product availability in these markets,” Chamandy added.
Chamandy’s top priority once re-installed as company CEO was to ensure that Gildan was on track to deliver on its three-year SGS targets. The old Gildan board in December 2023 fired company co-founder and longtime former CEO Chamandy, which led to a months-long battle for board control led by activist investor Browning West. The activist, who had the support of eight other institutional investors, as well as proxy advisory firms, ultimately won the fight and reinstated Chamandy.