Sri Lanka textile maker says European orders strong, US buyers cautious

May 21, 2014 (LBO) - Demand from US retailers have softened in recent months but European demand was still strong, Textured Jersey, a Sri Lanka based textile maker said. Revenues grew 7 percent to 3.2 billion rupees, costs grew 6.2 percent to 2.8 billion rupees and the firm grew gross profits 13.9 percent to 402 million rupees.

"Some US retailers took a cautious approach for a couple of months, softening demand in our US business," Bill Lam, chairman of Textured Jersey told shareholders.

"Despite this, TJL’s European order book continues to be strong mitigating the overall impact."

TJL is an affiliate of Sri Lanka based apparel maker Brandix.

The firm said profits grew 9 percent to 351 million rupees in the March 2014 quarter from a year earlier. The firm reported earnings of 54 cents per share.

In the year to March profits were up 13.8 percent to 1.15 billion rupees giving earnings of 1.77 rupees per share.