In light of the results of its third quarter ended October 1, the management of Hanesbrands welcomes the increase in prices. "Brands are more important than ever, and our price increases for cotton products are helping us mitigate the margin pressure from cotton and other cost inflation," said William J. Nictakis, Hanes' co-chief operating officer. "In addition to price increases in February and June, we instituted another price increase in late September for cotton-based products, and early point-of-sale performance is good."

HanesBrands has worked on its pricing - Photo Playtex

While the company saw its net sales of 898 million euros (1.23 billion USD) increase by just 5%, operating profit jumped 34% to 112 million euros. This trend is evident in particular within its leading segment of underwear whose sales stagnated but whose operating profit rose by 44%.

In the outerwear segment, representing 35% of its net sales, which was strengthened in November 2010 with the acquisition of the brand Gear for Sports; operating income also increased by 45%, and operating margin reached a record high at 12.8% while sales increased by 11.1%. As for its EBITDA, which reached 127 million euros, the group recorded an increase of over 30% for the quarter.

For its latest quarter, the Group expects net sales of between 875 million and 948 million euros.