Hayleys Fabric’s inno brand secures top customers

Hayleys Fabric PLC, a textile manufacturer which is also the largest manufacturer of polyester in the country, has got new clients into its fold with its own brand of fabric called "inno", officials said.

Created according to the brand specific requirements and high demand from customers, inno, created by this subsidiary of Hayleys PLC is a cotton and polyester blended fabric with elasticity. “This has a certain stretch, look and a comfort that attracts manufacturers of sportswear, etc,” Roshan Gunatilleke, CEO, Hayleys Fabric PLC told the Business Times. He added that in this segment the company has secured Victoria Secret, Next, Decathlon and Intissimo brands as customers. Their main differentiation would be having a wide portfolio along with their own brand.

He added that Hayleys Fabric PLC during the last financial year made significant investments on upgrading production technology and bringing in new machinery for the manufacturing processes. “We upgraded all the machinery which are top class European,” he said adding that due to their efficiency, the capacity of the plants have also gone up.

The company is hopeful that the depreciating pressure on the Rupee helping to make the Sri Lankan exports competi- tive in the US and GSP+ concessions for Europe would yield better returns.

The financial year 2015/16 ended with a profit after tax of Rs. 261 million (US$1.84 million) which is 160 per cent growth in profits compared to the previous year. This is the second consecutive year producing profits after years of consecutive losses recorded in the past.

As revenue saw a 2 per cent dip, the improvement in profits is mainly attributed to reduction in cost of sales due to rationalisation of the product portfolio and dip in prices of yarn as both cotton and polyester have come down, analysts said adding that the structural change that occurred during the year within the company, saw a management restructure leading to a favourable impact in performance during the year. This has improved quality and on time delivery, resulting in increased revenue, and would be expected to continue benefits in the next couple of years, they said.

The company can complete the entire product portfolio of the customer, offering end to end solutions from knitting, dyeing, finishing, design and development, printing, brushing, etc of both cotton and polyester based fabric.

Reputed retailers including Marks & Spencer, NEXT, BHS, TESCO, George / ASDA, Victoria's Secret and Decathlon and among the company’s main clients.