Calida posts record operating profit

According to a press release issued by the Calida Group, the Lucerne-based clothing company generated total sales of 298 million Swiss francs in 2021. In comparison with the previous year, this equates to growth of 19.2 percent. The adjusted operating result (EBIT) increased at the same time by 43.2 percent to a record value of 24.3 million Swiss francs. In terms of net income, a value of 15.2 million Swiss francs was recorded, which is 56.7 percent up on the equivalent value for 2020. All key figures relate to continuing Group operations.

“The 2021 business result will be recorded in our company history as the greatest success to date”, explains Timo Schmidt-Eisenhart, CEO of the Calida Group, in the press release, before adding: “In spite of initial limitations imposed by the corona pandemic, all our brands ended the year with double-digit sales growth and a result substantially better than the pre-pandemic performance”. He puts this success down to the expansion of online business “and sustainable near-shore production” at Calida. The latter point refers to the relocation of production activities to a company-owned site in a nearby country where manufacturing can be carried out more cost-effectively than in the target market.

In the reporting year, Calida also took its first steps to implement a strategy focusing on the core segment of underwear and lingerie. The wheels are already in motion for a sale of the Millet Mountain Group back to the founding family, with this transaction expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022, the Group writes in the press release. Last year, Calida also took over erlich textil, a start-up based in Cologne, Germany, that specializes in the production of underwear from organically grown and renewable raw materials.