Levi Strauss sees 2004 sales matching 2003

NEW YORK - Jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. on Thursday said it expected sales in fiscal 2004 to be about the same as in 2003, ending a long-running slide.

The San Francisco-based company expected gross profit for 2004 to have increased from 2003.

"We are pleased that we have had a very good year," said a spokesman for the company.

Sales of the famed jeans have skidded in recent years, with the company's brands facing greater competition from more youth-oriented labels. Net sales were $4.1 billion in 2003, down from $5.1 billion in 1999.

But based on preliminary data, the company on Thursday said it expected net sales in 2004 to be the same as in 2003, although sales were expected to be lower on a constant-currency basis.

The San Francisco-based company said product rationalization in the United States this year had generated stronger margins and improved profitability for its Levi's brand, despite the lower sales. In 2003, the Levi's brand made up 70 per cent of sales.

In Europe, its business benefited from a cost-savings program, introducing its Levi Strauss Signature brand, which accounted for 6 per cent of 2003 sales, and repositioning its Levi's brand at the top end of the jeans segment.

The company's Asia-Pacific business continued to deliver revenue growth in part due to the success of 501 jeans and a new line of products for women.

But Levi Strauss said sales of its Dockers clothing brand, which made up 24 per cent of sales in 2003, were substantially lower in fiscal 2004, which ended Nov. 28.

In October, it scrapped plans to sell Dockers because potential buyers would not meet the company's price.

"We are focused on stabilizing our Dockers men's sales and revamping out women's business," the company said.

- REUTERS

* An earlier story from Reuters, which said Levi Strauss warned it could face bankruptcy, was incorrect and was withdrawn. It has been removed from nzherald.co.nz