TRSA Members Make Apparel’s Top 50!
Apparel magazine recently unveiled its Top 50 list of garment companies, and the accompanying article that appeared in its July issue includes five TRSA members:
- UniFirst (No. 9)
- VF Corp. (No. 10)
- Cintas Corp. (No. 13)
- G&K Services (No.21)
- Superior Uniform Group (No. 23)
The list ranks apparel companies based by their profit margin for the most recent fiscal year, according to a description on pg. 14 of the article. The list is limited to companies with at least $100 million in annual sales that are publicly traded on a U.S. stock exchange.
The article included brief descriptions of what made each of these companies successful and how they’ve progressed in the past year. Rankings were based on 2014 data.
The companies that made the largest moves up the list compared to last year’s rankings were Superior Uniform, which rose 11 slots; and G&K Services, which was up seven places over last year. G&K more than doubled its annual adjusted operating income in 2014 from $49 million to 100 million, the article said. It’s most recent fiscal year profit margin was 6.23%. Superior saw a 29.5% increase in sales, while CEO Michael Benstock was named as a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Central Florida in the Family Business category. The company’s profit margin was 5.78%.
UniFirst Corp. moved up a position from No. 10 last year to No. 9 this year. The company set records with a 5.7% increase in core laundry operations and an 8.9% income increase in year-over-year earnings (after adjusting for an extra week in 2013). The company’s profit margin was 8.60%.
Cintas Corp. advanced three slots from last year’s rankings to No. 13, as the company’s rental segment hit $3.2 billion in revenue and topped $500 million in operating income for the first time. The company’s First Aid division achieved a record of $514 million in revenue. Cintas’ profit margin was 8.23%.
VF Corp. landed between the two uniform rental giants at No. 10, having earned record revenues of $12.3 billion, including a 13% increase in its Outdoor & Action Sports coalition. Meanwhile, VF’s international sales grew 9% and its direct-to-consumer business was up 19%. VF’s profit margin was 8.53%.
Click here to download the article, where you can see the full list, including the top scorer, Gildan. Based in Montreal, this vertically integrated global manufacturer of T-shirts, sport and casual wear earned a 15.24% profit margin on sales of $2.36 billion. Nice work if you can get it.