After more than a year of stagnation in the global textile industry, Utenos Trikotaas, a subsidiary of the SBA Group of enterprises, witnessed the first signs of recovery in Q2 2021. The company’s on-demand production sales increased by 8% over the same period previous year, totaling $8 million.
Utenos Trikotažas is investing in its production equipment to produce higher added value products. In H1 2021, the factory obtained two modern knitting machines and the delivery of two more machines is expected in September. By the end of the year, over EUR 0.5 million will be invested in the expansion of the production facilities. Utenos managing director Petras Jašinskas “The momentum of on-demand sales dictate new market needs”
In May, Utenos Trikotaas launched a new business to oversee the global development of the About brand lines, including ABOUT Baltic Underwear and ABOUT The Sensology of Wear. In the first half of 2021, sales of UTENOS and ABOUT branded products were EUR 2.0 million, down 31% from the previous year. A dramatic drop in demand for face masks also damaged sales, yet in the challenging year of 2020, this not only benefited sales but also allowed employees to keep their employment.
In the first half of 2021, Utenos Trikotaas earned EUR 12.5 million in revenue, which was the same as the previous year. Prior to taxes, the corporation lost EUR 0.9 million (EUR 1.1 million in 2020) The EBITDA indicator for the company was EUR -489 thousand (Eur -709 thousand in 2020). “We are more confident about the next six months because of the pace of population immunization,” Jainskas said.
