15th August 2022, Colombo: Hela Apparel Holdings PLC recorded an impressive start to the financial year, with revenue growing by 114% year-on-year to Rs. 24.5 Bn in the first quarter. The significant growth was partly driven by the depreciation of the rupee during this period, while the Group’s underlying US Dollar-denominated revenue also rose by 28%. This reflects the continuation of strong consumer demand conditions in Hela’s key export markets and the ramp-up in production at its newly-established manufacturing facility in Egypt.
The organisation also posted a significant increase in profits, recording a Profit After Tax of Rs. 354 Mn in the first quarter, compared to Rs. 58 Mn in the same period of the previous financial year. This positive performance was a result of both the growth in Group revenue and improved profit margins.
“I’m pleased to see Hela continuing on its growth trajectory despite the extremely challenging operating environment during the first quarter. These results are a reflection of the Company’s successful customer engagement strategies and the initial implementation of the management’s focused margin-improvement strategy. This strengthened Hela’s ability to absorb the continuation of significant external cost pressures and global supply chain disruptions during the quarter.” said A.R. Rasiah, Chairman of Hela Apparel Holdings.
Looking toward the remainder of the financial year, Hela will focus on navigating the volatile operating environment by continuing to implement its margin-improvement strategy across the Group. The Company will also seek to continue delivering innovative apparel supply chain solutions to its customers, while proactively seeking opportunities to strengthen its value propositions.
“Hela has proved resilient during a challenging first quarter, though we feel there are opportunities to improve further,” said Dilanka Jinadasa, Group CEO of Hela Apparel Holdings. “The biggest challenge ahead is the likelihood of a softening order-book due to a slowdown in consumer demand in our key markets. That said, the new customer relationships we have established over the past twelve months should help us to offset this drop and the continued ramp-up of our operations in Egypt will help to ensure the Group’s revenue remains resilient. The implementation of our strategic initiatives including the digitization drive powered by SAP S/4HANA will assist Hela in being more data-driven and agile, placing us in a stronger position to navigate the challenges ahead” he further added.
Hela Apparel Holdings PLC is a social capital-focused company built on the principles of inclusivity, equality, and climate stability. With over three decades of industry experience, Hela focuses on building strategic partnerships with global brands to provide apparel supply chain solutions with distinctive advantages. The organisation has a global presence with 11 manufacturing facilities across Sri Lanka, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt, as well as design centres in Sri Lanka, the US, the UK, and France, providing direct employment to over 20,000 people. Innovative, ethical, and sustainable apparel manufacturing is at the centre of Hela’s operations. With numerous accolades for sustainability, the organization was recently endorsed as a signatory to the UN Global Compact and was awarded the ISO 14064-1:2018 certification for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions across the Group.
