Hanesbrands Inc
(336) 519-8080
news
release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News
Media, contact:
Matt
Hall, (336) 519-3386
Analysts
and Investors, contact: Brian
Lantz, (336) 519-7130
PRODUCTION RESUMING AT HANESBRANDS
INC. CONTRACT SEWING OPERATIONS IN HAITI AS COMPANY DONATES AN ADDITIONAL $2.2
MILLION IN EARTHQUAKE AID
The company also has set
up a staging operation in the Dominican Republic that is supplying food, water
and basic necessities for the Haitian contract workers and has donated $2.2
million worth of underwear to be widely distributed to those in need in the
country by humanitarian aid agency CARE and Fashion Delivers Charitable
Foundation, Inc.
Hanesbrands has three primary T-shirt sewing operations in
With the resumption of production in Haiti, the addition of new contract suppliers, and added production at company-owned plants, Hanesbrands expects full pre-earthquake T-shirt production levels as soon as mid-February. The production suspension should not have a material impact on sales of the company’s underwear T-shirts or casualwear T-shirts sold to the wholesale screen-print industry.
“We are very thankful that our major contract partners have the wherewithal to resume production, providing critical jobs for employees who are seeking to recover from the aftermath of the earthquake,” said Gerald Evans, Hanesbrands president, international business and global supply chain. “Our contractors are doing a great job providing employees and their families with food, water and other assistance, and employees are eager to return to work. We were disappointed to learn that two employees of one of our contractors died from injuries suffered in the earthquake. We send our sympathy to their families, friends and co-workers.”
Of the company’s three sewing contractors, one of the operations sews underwear T-shirts for retail customers, one produces outerwear T-shirts for the wholesale screen-print imagewear industry, and the third produces both underwear and outerwear T-shirts.
The company also has a fourth T-shirt sewing contractor,
located near
Earthquake Aid
Hanesbrands has donated more than 2 million pieces of new underwear with a wholesale value of $2.2 million, primarily men’s and boys’ underwear bottoms and women’s and girls’ panties, to aid agencies for distribution in Haiti.
The company is donating approximately 1.5 million pair of underwear to CARE and is working with other CARE partners to sort, ship, store and distribute the goods. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing assistance in sorting the basic apparel for appropriate distribution and UPS is providing transportation logistics and shipping of the goods. CARE was able to accept the donation because the apparel was new and it was able to garner the support of partners to mitigate the costs of managing the distribution.
Hanesbrands is donating approximately 750,000 pair of
underwear to Fashion Delivers Charitable Foundation, Inc. Based in
Hanesbrands and its employees have also established a
staging operation for
Hanesbrands employees also have personally donated thousands
of dollars to CARE and the American Red Cross to aid the people of
“Hanesbrands has a culture of helping those in need that is driven by the generosity and compassion of our employees,” said Chris Fox, Hanesbrands vice president of corporate social responsibility. “We are proud of our employees who always rise to the occasion to support others in times of crisis, no matter where it is, and to continually support those in need in our communities. We thank them once again for being great community ambassadors.”
Hanesbrands would also like to thank the
Cautionary
Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not
statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including
those regarding our long-term goals and trends associated with our business, our
recently completed debt refinancing, and the net retail space gains that have
been secured for 2010 and the expected impact of the space gains. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this
press release and are based on our current intent, beliefs, plans and
expectations. They involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual future results, performance or developments to differ materially
from those described in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the following: our ability to
execute our consolidation and globalization strategy, including migrating our
production and manufacturing operations to lower-cost locations around the
world; our ability to successfully manage social,
political, economic, legal and other conditions affecting our foreign
operations and supply chain sources; the impact of natural disasters; current
economic conditions; consumer spending levels; the risk of inflation or
deflation; financial difficulties experienced by, or loss of or reduction in
sales to, any of our top customers or groups of customers; gains and losses in
the shelf space that our customers devote to our products; our debt and debt
service requirements that restrict our operating and financial flexibility, and
impose interest and financing costs; the financial ratios that our debt
instruments require us to maintain; failure to protect against dramatic changes
in the volatile market price of cotton; the impact of increases in prices of
other materials used in our products and increases in other costs; our ability
to effectively manage our inventory and reduce inventory reserves; retailer consolidation
and other changes in the apparel essentials industry; the highly competitive
and evolving nature of the industry in which we compete; our ability to keep
pace with changing consumer preferences; costs and
adverse publicity from violations of labor or environmental laws by us or our
suppliers; and other risks identified from time to time in our most
recent Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including the 2008 Annual
Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form
8-K, registration statements, press releases and other communications. The company undertakes no obligation to
update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the
occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over
time.
About Hanesbrands
Hanesbrands
Inc. is a leading marketer of everyday apparel essentials under some of the
world’s strongest apparel brands, including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, JMS/Just My Size,
barely there and Wonderbra. The company sells T-shirts, bras, panties,
men’s underwear, children’s underwear, socks, hosiery, casualwear and
activewear produced in the company’s low-cost global supply chain. Hanesbrands has approximately 45,000
employees in more than 25 countries. More information about the company may be
found on the Hanesbrands Internet Web site at www.hanesbrands.com.
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