Latest news with #Kontoor
Hypebeast
02-06-2025
- Business
- Hypebeast
Helly Hansen Acquired by Lee and Wrangler Parent for $900 Million USD
On Monday morning,Kontoor Brands, parent to heritage denim labelsLeeandWrangler, finalized its previously announced deal to acquire performance gear brandHelly Hansen, closing at $900 million USD. 'Today marks an exciting step forward for Kontoor as we expand our portfolio of iconic consumer brands,' said CEO of Kontoor Brands Scott Baxter. 'The acquisition of Helly Hansen will increase our growth profile, drive greater category, channel and geographic diversification, and increase our penetration in the attractive outdoor and workwear markets,' he continued. 'I want to thank the entire Helly Hansen team for their partnership as we have worked toward this exciting milestone. Together, I am more confident than ever that we will create significant long-term value for our shareholders.' The move arrives as major players in the apparel sector look to get in on the growth of the outdoor and performance gear market, a development particularly relevant to Kontoor, whose bread and butter has been its small group of heritage lifestyle labels. In addition to diversifying its offerings, Kontoor's global presence may also benefit from the move, given that Helly Hansen enjoys much of its popularity in international regions like Japan, where Lee and Wrangler also share relevance. Founded in 1877, the Norwegian label was acquired from its previous owner, Canadian Tire Corporation. According to Kontoor, Helly Hansen is expected to boost the company's revenue, adjusted earnings per share, and cash flow with immediate effects in fiscal 2025. Per a report fromEcotextile News, the brand is anticipated generate upwards of $680 million USD in revenue and $80 million USD in adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2025. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest fashion industry news.
Fashion Network
15-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Helly Hansen to grow in the U.S. as Kontoor targets expansion and margin gains
With Kontoor Brands finalizing its acquisition of Helly Hansen, the American apparel group—owner of Lee and Wrangler—is integrating the Norwegian outdoor brand into its global portfolio and laying out plans for expansion and profitability. Kontoor expects Helly Hansen to improve its margins by tapping into the group's operational infrastructure. During Kontoor's first-quarter earnings call, CEO Scott Baxter outlined four strategic priorities for Helly Hansen's future. 'First, we're accelerating Helly Hansen's growth. The opportunities are significant. The U.S. is the largest outdoor apparel and footwear market in the world. While it's currently the brand's fastest-growing market, its penetration remains well below that of competitors. By combining wholesale and retail expansion, strong digital growth, and demand-generation investments, we see a clear path to double-digit growth in our home market,' Baxter said. 'Beyond the U.S., we also see major opportunities in direct-to-consumer sales, China, workwear, and category expansion.' Kontoor also aims to enter high-potential geographic markets while doubling Helly Hansen's operating margin to approximately 15%. Using its own global structure, the company expects to lower Helly Hansen's freight costs by 10% to 20%. 'We will leverage our global operating model, supply chain, and technology platforms. This will allow both organizations to benefit from meaningful scale advantages while enhancing operational efficiency, decision-making, and investment capabilities to support growth initiatives,' said Baxter. In the near term, Kontoor plans to boost profit and improve working capital to reduce its net debt-to-equity ratio by 50% over the next 12 months. The company's fourth strategic focus is integrating Helly Hansen's talent and brand identity. 'We remain impressed with their organization. There's talent at every level, along with humility, drive, and a desire to do things right. These are the same qualities we value at Kontoor,' Baxter said, adding that Kontoor is the first owner of the brand in two decades with roots in the textile industry. Kontoor expects Helly Hansen to generate $425 million in revenue during its first fiscal year under new ownership, with stronger performance forecast in the years ahead. However, the group also faces challenges related to U.S. import tariffs. 'Helly Hansen sources all of its U.S. products from Southeast Asia, including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia,' said CFO Joe Alkire. 'Remember, the brand generates about 75% of its global revenue outside the United States. However, if proposed tariff rates apply across all imports, the group could face an estimated $50 million hit to its 2025 operating profit, with Helly Hansen contributing roughly $15 million to that total.' Despite this challenge, Kontoor does not expect tariffs to derail Helly Hansen's long-term strategy, as most players in the outdoor apparel sector also rely on Southeast Asian manufacturing.
Fashion Network
15-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Helly Hansen to grow in the U.S. as Kontoor targets expansion and margin gains
With Kontoor Brands finalizing its acquisition of Helly Hansen, the American apparel group—owner of Lee and Wrangler—is integrating the Norwegian outdoor brand into its global portfolio and laying out plans for expansion and profitability. Kontoor expects Helly Hansen to improve its margins by tapping into the group's operational infrastructure. During Kontoor's first-quarter earnings call, CEO Scott Baxter outlined four strategic priorities for Helly Hansen's future. 'First, we're accelerating Helly Hansen's growth. The opportunities are significant. The U.S. is the largest outdoor apparel and footwear market in the world. While it's currently the brand's fastest-growing market, its penetration remains well below that of competitors. By combining wholesale and retail expansion, strong digital growth, and demand-generation investments, we see a clear path to double-digit growth in our home market,' Baxter said. 'Beyond the U.S., we also see major opportunities in direct-to-consumer sales, China, workwear, and category expansion.' Kontoor also aims to enter high-potential geographic markets while doubling Helly Hansen's operating margin to approximately 15%. Using its own global structure, the company expects to lower Helly Hansen's freight costs by 10% to 20%. 'We will leverage our global operating model, supply chain, and technology platforms. This will allow both organizations to benefit from meaningful scale advantages while enhancing operational efficiency, decision-making, and investment capabilities to support growth initiatives,' said Baxter. In the near term, Kontoor plans to boost profit and improve working capital to reduce its net debt-to-equity ratio by 50% over the next 12 months. The company's fourth strategic focus is integrating Helly Hansen's talent and brand identity. 'We remain impressed with their organization. There's talent at every level, along with humility, drive, and a desire to do things right. These are the same qualities we value at Kontoor,' Baxter said, adding that Kontoor is the first owner of the brand in two decades with roots in the textile industry. Kontoor expects Helly Hansen to generate $425 million in revenue during its first fiscal year under new ownership, with stronger performance forecast in the years ahead. However, the group also faces challenges related to U.S. import tariffs. 'Helly Hansen sources all of its U.S. products from Southeast Asia, including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia,' said CFO Joe Alkire. 'Remember, the brand generates about 75% of its global revenue outside the United States. However, if proposed tariff rates apply across all imports, the group could face an estimated $50 million hit to its 2025 operating profit, with Helly Hansen contributing roughly $15 million to that total.' Despite this challenge, Kontoor does not expect tariffs to derail Helly Hansen's long-term strategy, as most players in the outdoor apparel sector also rely on Southeast Asian manufacturing.
Fashion Network
15-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Helly Hansen to grow in the U.S. as Kontoor targets expansion and margin gains
With Kontoor Brands finalizing its acquisition of Helly Hansen, the American apparel group—owner of Lee and Wrangler—is integrating the Norwegian outdoor brand into its global portfolio and laying out plans for expansion and profitability. Kontoor expects Helly Hansen to improve its margins by tapping into the group's operational infrastructure. During Kontoor's first-quarter earnings call, CEO Scott Baxter outlined four strategic priorities for Helly Hansen's future. 'First, we're accelerating Helly Hansen's growth. The opportunities are significant. The U.S. is the largest outdoor apparel and footwear market in the world. While it's currently the brand's fastest-growing market, its penetration remains well below that of competitors. By combining wholesale and retail expansion, strong digital growth, and demand-generation investments, we see a clear path to double-digit growth in our home market,' Baxter said. 'Beyond the U.S., we also see major opportunities in direct-to-consumer sales, China, workwear, and category expansion.' Kontoor also aims to enter high-potential geographic markets while doubling Helly Hansen's operating margin to approximately 15%. Using its own global structure, the company expects to lower Helly Hansen's freight costs by 10% to 20%. 'We will leverage our global operating model, supply chain, and technology platforms. This will allow both organizations to benefit from meaningful scale advantages while enhancing operational efficiency, decision-making, and investment capabilities to support growth initiatives,' said Baxter. In the near term, Kontoor plans to boost profit and improve working capital to reduce its net debt-to-equity ratio by 50% over the next 12 months. The company's fourth strategic focus is integrating Helly Hansen's talent and brand identity. 'We remain impressed with their organization. There's talent at every level, along with humility, drive, and a desire to do things right. These are the same qualities we value at Kontoor,' Baxter said, adding that Kontoor is the first owner of the brand in two decades with roots in the textile industry. Kontoor expects Helly Hansen to generate $425 million in revenue during its first fiscal year under new ownership, with stronger performance forecast in the years ahead. However, the group also faces challenges related to U.S. import tariffs. 'Helly Hansen sources all of its U.S. products from Southeast Asia, including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia,' said CFO Joe Alkire. 'Remember, the brand generates about 75% of its global revenue outside the United States. However, if proposed tariff rates apply across all imports, the group could face an estimated $50 million hit to its 2025 operating profit, with Helly Hansen contributing roughly $15 million to that total.' Despite this challenge, Kontoor does not expect tariffs to derail Helly Hansen's long-term strategy, as most players in the outdoor apparel sector also rely on Southeast Asian manufacturing.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kontoor (KTB) is an Incredible Growth Stock: 3 Reasons Why
Growth stocks are attractive to many investors, as above-average financial growth helps these stocks easily grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. But finding a growth stock that can live up to its true potential can be a tough task. By their very nature, these stocks carry above-average risk and volatility. Moreover, if a company's growth story is over or nearing its end, betting on it could lead to significant loss. However, the task of finding cutting-edge growth stocks is made easy with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects. Kontoor Brands (KTB) is on the list of such stocks currently recommended by our proprietary system. In addition to a favorable Growth Score, it carries a top Zacks Rank. Research shows that stocks carrying the best growth features consistently beat the market. And returns are even better for stocks that possess the combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). While there are numerous reasons why the stock of this maker of Wrangler and Lee apparel is a great growth pick right now, we have highlighted three of the most important factors below: Earnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration. While the historical EPS growth rate for Kontoor is 13.6%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 9.5% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 1.8%. Growth investors often overlook asset utilization ratio, also known as sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio, but it is an important feature of a real growth stock. This metric shows how efficiently a firm is utilizing its assets to generate sales. Right now, Kontoor has an S/TA ratio of 1.58, which means that the company gets $1.58 in sales for each dollar in assets. Comparing this to the industry average of 1.19, it can be said that the company is more efficient. In addition to efficiency in generating sales, sales growth plays an important role. And Kontoor is well positioned from a sales growth perspective too. The company's sales are expected to grow 1.1% this year versus the industry average of 0.8%. Beyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements. The current-year earnings estimates for Kontoor have been revising upward. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 2.9% over the past month. While the overall earnings estimate revisions have made Kontoor a Zacks Rank #2 stock, it has earned itself a Growth Score of B based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. This combination indicates that Kontoor is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kontoor Brands, Inc. (KTB) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
