PVH Corp signals mainland expansion
Designer apparel maker PVH Corp, formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen, is looking to step up its expansion on the mainland after the United States-based company swung to a profit in the second quarter.
'It's clearly a market that we could see very accelerated growth,' PVH chairman and chief executive Emanuel Chirico told analysts in a conference call yesterday.
The firm's Tommy Hilfiger label, which it acquired for US$3 billion in stock and cash in March last year, is expected to drive that growth. Tommy Hilfiger includes high-quality menswear, women's wear, children's apparel and denim collections.
Describing the brand as 'underdeveloped' on the mainland, Chirico said the size of the business was between US$40 million and US$50 million.
The appointment of John Ermatinger as Tommy Hilfiger's chief executive for Asia in July will help push development initiatives in the region, particularly on the mainland, Chirico said. Ermatinger was previously the president of Gap Asia-Pacific.
'We will continue to make investments in that market,' he said, noting Ermatinger's enthusiasm for expanding on the mainland. ' We'll start to report the results for China beginning in the third quarter this year.'
Other brands that the New York-listed PVH owns include Calvin Klein, Izod, Van Heusen, and G.H. Bass & Co. It also holds licences to produce dress shirts, neckwear and sportswear for brands such as DKNY, Kenneth Cole, and Timberland. Calvin Klein had earlier forecast its mainland sales to rise as much as 30 per cent annually from this year.
Last April, Weihai Dishang Fashion Brands, a Dishang Group subsidiary, secured the licence from PVH to market a full range of Izod-brand men's and women's sportswear, footwear and accessories on the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
PVH on Wednesday posted a second-quarter net profit of US$67 million, a turnaround from a US$71 million loss a year earlier, as revenue from its top-performing Tommy Hilfiger business climbed 30 per cent to US$693 million from a year ago.
