Bangalore-based garment exporter, Gokaldas Exports has widened its loss by 84 per cent to Rs 26.52 crore in the fourth quarter of FY 11 due to higher wage and raw material cost. However, total sales of the company rose marginally by four per cent to Rs 301.2 crore during the period as against Rs 289.3 crore in the corresponding period previous year.
It also trimmed its operating loss by 14 per cent to Rs 16.59 crore . “The loss is mainly due to substantial decrease in wage costs, higher raw material costs and increased interest costs incurred in view of withdrawal of interest subvention by the Reserve Bank of India,” a company release said.
Additional air freight cost along with fire accident in its facility also impacted performance, it added. Meantime, it has appointed Richard B Saldanha as non-executive chairman of board. On annual basis, the garment exporter posted a loss of Rs 90 crore as against Rs 1.82 crore of loss reported in the previous year.
Total income also declined marginally to Rs 1145.11 crore in the last financial year as compared with Rs 1156 crore reported an year earlier. It posted an operating loss of Rs 67.62 crore in FY11 as against an operating profit of Rs 21.94 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Gokaldas Exports also said that present market situation is sluggish with buyers tending to reduce their order flow with global retail sales along with less optimism in pricing front. However, declining trend of cotton prices is a positive indicator for the company.
On the order book front, the company said that first half of the year is good with more pipeline of orders. “We are looking at a better market demand in our focus geographies and expect the situation to improve in the coming few months,” it said.