Hanesbrands (HBI)

 

Inflation can have a long-term impact on us because increasing costs of materials and labor may impact our ability to maintain satisfactory margins. For example, a significant portion of our products are manufactured in other countries and declines in the value of the U.S. dollar may result in higher manufacturing costs. Similarly, the cost of the materials that are used in our manufacturing process, such as oil-related commodity prices, rose during the summer of 2008 as a result of inflation and other factors. In addition, inflation often is accompanied by higher interest rates, which could have a negative impact on spending, in which case our margins could decrease. Moreover, increases in inflation may not be matched by rises in income, which also could have a negative impact on spending. If we incur increased costs that are unable to be recouped, or if consumer spending continues to decrease generally, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be adversely affected. In an effort to mitigate the impact of these incremental costs on our operating results, we raised domestic prices effective February 2009. We implemented an average gross price increase of four percent in our domestic product categories. The range of price increases varies by individual product category.

 

Our costs for cotton yarn and cotton-based textiles vary based upon the fluctuating cost of cotton, which is affected by weather, consumer demand, speculation on the commodities market, the relative valuations and fluctuations of the currencies of producer versus consumer countries and other factors that are generally unpredictable and beyond our control. While we do enter into short-term supply agreements and hedges from time to time in an attempt to protect our business from the volatility of the market price of cotton, our business can be affected by dramatic movements in cotton prices, although cotton historically represents only 8% of our cost of sales. The cotton prices reflected in our results were 74 cents per pound for the quarter ended April 4, 2009 and 54 cents per pound for the quarter ended March 29, 2008. After taking into consideration the cotton costs currently included in inventory and short-term supply agreements, we expect our cost of cotton to average 55 cents per pound for the full year of 2009 compared to 65 cents per pound for 2008. In addition, during the summer of 2008 we experienced a spike in oil-related commodity prices and other raw materials used in our products, such as dyes and chemicals, and increases in other costs, such as fuel, energy and utility costs.

 

 

We believe that changes in net sales and in net income that have resulted from inflation or deflation have not been material during the periods presented. There is no assurance, however, that inflation or deflation will not materially affect us in the future. Cotton is the primary raw material we use to manufacture many of our

 

We believe that changes in net sales and in net income that have resulted from inflation or deflation have not been material during the periods presented. There is no assurance, however, that inflation or deflation will not materially affect us in the future.

 

 

We believe that changes in net sales and in net income that have resulted from inflation or deflation have not been material during the periods presented. There is no assurance, however, that inflation or deflation will not materially affect us in the future.