WESTPOINT NET JUMP 21.4% IN 4TH QUARTER
WEST POINT, Ga. — WestPoint Stevens Inc. fourth-quarter earnings gained 21.4 percent to $19.3 million, or 61 cents a share, from $15.9 million, or 49 cents, a year ago.
Sales for the three months ended Dec. 31 were up 7.6 percent to $455 million from $422.8 million. In the Alamac Knits business, sales were off less than 1 percent to $55.9 million.
Operating income increased 8.8 percent to $56.1 million, or 12.3 percent of sales, from $51.5 million, or 12.2 percent of sales, a year ago. Operating margins were down slightly, at 13.2 percent of sales, compared with 13.8 percent of sales a year ago, as a result of higher-priced sourced goods, low inventories and other “production challenges required to meet very high customer demand,” WestPoint said.
For the year, WestPoint earned $57.7 million, or $1.81 a share, compared with a loss of $129.8 million, which included $177.7 million in amortization of excess reorganization value. Excluding the amortization charge, the company earned $47.9 million in 1995. Sales were up 4.8 percent to $1.72 billion from $1.65 billion. Alamac Knits’ sales were down 4.2 percent to $222 million.
Operating earnings rose 7.1 percent to $195.6 million, or 11.3 percent of sales, from $182.7 million, or 11.1 percent of sales, in 1995.