Levi’s profits pepped up by China, India

Levi Strauss registered higher quarterly profit owing

to the demand in growing markets like India and China. This happened despite rising cotton costs and discounts on its flagship brands. For the third quarter, the company earned $32 million, compared to $28 million last year. Revenue grew 9 per cent to $1.20 billion, led by a 20 per cent rise in the Asia-Pacific region.

Revenue growth in the Asia Pacific region has resulted due to the Levi’s brand and its retail network expansion in China and India, while there was a decline in demand in Japan. In the Americas, where Levi Strauss gets half its business, revenue rose 7 per cent, however, gross margins slipped to 47 per cent from 49 last year.

Levi Strauss is a private company, but reports quarterly results due to publicly held debt. The company reported net debt of $1.75 billion, compared to $1.6 billion at the end of 2010.