Utenos Trikotazas
Half-Yearly information

Utenos Trikotažas Group interim report for six months of 2017

Utena, Lithuania, 2017-07-31 15:00 CEST -- The consolidated Group sales continued strong growth momentum for the Q2 of 2017 adding +17,1% over same period last year and reached 5,6 mil. EUR. For H1 2017 the Group sales stood at 11,5 mil. EUR which is 18,6% growth over same period last year. The company itself recorded even higher growth numbers over same periods last year -  21,0% and 20,6% for Q2 and H1 respectively.

Sales of on-demand jersey production, major business segment, was the main growth driver delivering increase over same periods last of  22,1% and 20,8% for Q2 and H1 respectively. Own brands, UTENOS and ABOUT, posted 12.1% growth in Q2 of 2017 reaching 0,7 mil. EUR. Rather cold weather conditions, we believe, was the core reason for somewhat slower growth momentum as compared to Q1. Nevertheless, branded sales of H1 of 2017 stood at 1,5 mil. EUR which is +16,7% above same period last year. Sales of functional-technical garments remained largely on last year level for Q2 delivering 0,8 mil. EUR. Sales for H1 sales reached 1,7 mil. EUR adding 10,1% compared to same period last year.

Exports of the group accounted for 78.5% of total sales in Q2 2017 and grew by +26.9% over same period last year. For H1 2017 exports made up 75.9% of sales with a growth of 17.5% over same period last year. Both major sales areas DACH countries and Scandinavia posted significant growth in H1 2017 9,5% and 44,4% respectively. Domestic sales, driven by branded sales and a functional-technical garments contract with Lithuanian army, reached 2,8 mil. EUR in H1 2017 which is 22,1% more than same period last year.

Production volumes in Q2 2017, as measured by number of pieces produced, grew up by +12,0% while for H1 2017 it was up +16,1% over same periods last year. Despite increase in production volumes average headcount increased marginally to only +1,1% in H1 2017 as compared to the same period last year. Total average headcount for H1 2017 stood at 1,097.

In Q2 2017 Group posted EUR 66 thousand pre-tax loss whereas it recorder EUR 217 thousand profit a year ago. For H1 2017 Group earned a pre-tax profit of EUR 191 thousand or +13,7% more than the same period last year.

The Group‘s EBITDA in Q2 2017 amounted to EUR 180 thousand while it was EUR 388 thousand over same period last year. For H1 2017 Group‘s EBITDA reached EUR 682 thousand and remained largely at the same level as last year of EUR 677 thousand.

Somewhat weaker profitability in Q2 2017 as driven by increased raw material costs of cotton and wool yarns as well as increased spending on sales and marketing activities behind our own brands. We believe that efforts put in the refreshement of UTENOS brand and the developement of the collections for the upcoming seasons for both UTENOS and ABOUT brands will drive sales in the periods to come.

Utenos trikotazas AB

Managing Director Algirdas Šabūnas

tel. no 370 389 51445