(Filed Under Financial and General Interest News). Hanesbrands reported strong third-quarter growth, including a 48.1 percent increase in net income and a 4.8 percent increase in net sales.

Steeper net prices on products helped Hanesbrands overcome the rising cost of cotton. Net income reached $90.8 million, or 91 cents a share, up from $61.3 million, or 63 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2010. Sales grew from $1.17 billion in last year’s period to $1.23 billion.

Earnings growth outpaced the growth in sales due to operating profitability in the innerwear, outerwear and direct-to-consumer segments — up 44 percent, 45 percent and 16 percent respectively. The November 2010 acquisition of Gear for Sports assisted in the outerwear segment growth, though profit still increased 10 percent without the acquisition benefits. Hanesbrands’ gross margins increased to 34.6 percent of sales from 31 percent in last year’s period.

"We are very pleased with our strong profit and margin growth in the third quarter," said Hanes chairman and C.E.O. Richard A. Noll. "It validates our investment in our brands, our approach to managing inflation with price and our ability to control costs. We still stay focused on executing our strategies to deliver strong results for the remainder of 2011."

The company narrowed its full-year earning guidance to $2.75 to $2.85 a share, equating to fourth-quarter net sales of $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.

Hanesbrands Inc. owns apparel brands including Wonderbra, Champion and Playtex. The company is based in Winston-Salem, N.C.

more Financial and General Interest News >>

Published 11-04-2011 by Katherine Rautenberg