Clothing manufacturer cuts 1,850 jobs in Australia

Clothing manufacturer Pacific Brands said it would cut 1,850 jobs in Australia after reporting a first-half loss of 150 million Australian dollars (98 million US).

Clothing manufacturer Pacific Brands said on Wednesday it would cut 1,850 jobs in Australia after reporting a first-half loss of 150 million Australian dollars (98 million US).

HT Image

The company, whose brands include Bonds, Jockey, Clarks and Dunlop, said it would close most of its Australian clothing and manufacturing operations.

"We will discontinue some of our smaller labels and brands to reduce complexity and cost and divest some non-core businesses and facilities, some as going concerns," chief executive Sue Morphet said in a statement.

"Unfortunately these changes will necessitate 1,850 job losses in Australia over an 18-month period, including 1,200 in clothing manufacturing."

The economic climate remained challenging and uncertain, with consumer confidence at low levels, she said.

The first-half net loss included a 206.4 million Australian dollar writedown on the value of a number of assets. Over the same period a year ago, Pacific Brands reported a profit of 57.2 million Australian dollars.

The company's revenue rose to 1.1 billion Australian dollars from 1.05 billion.

Pacific Brands suspended its dividend for the half and said the board would decide after the second half if it would pay a final dividend to shareholders.

"The potential for the continuation of deterioration in the market means we are not in a position to confidently predict the second-half performance," Morphet said.