California Apparel News

Avery Dennison, the Glendale, Calif., company that makes apparel labels and tags, RFID inlays, pressure-sensitive materials and specialty medical products, reported that its third-quarter sales ending Sept. 29 increased 4.8 percent over the same period last year to $1.76 billion. Net income was up 38 percent, to $150 million.

“Label and graphic materials delivered strong sales growth while its margin declined in the face of continued inflationary pressure. We expect meaningful recovery in the fourth quarter as recent pricing actions take full effect,” said Mitch Butier, the company’s president and chief executive. “Retail branding and information solutions continue to deliver with another quarter of strong sales growth in both the base business and RFID [radio frequency identification], along with significant margin expansion.”

In the area of label and graphic materials, sales in the third quarter increased 5 percent to $1.2 billion while sales in label and packaging materials grew in the mid single digits, and graphics and reflective solutions saw growth in the high single digits.

For retail branding and information solutions, sales were up 6.6 percent to $398 million, driven by strength in both the base business and RFID solutions.

For the third quarter, Avery Dennison’s effective tax rate was 10.5 percent compared with 26.2 percent the previous year, driven by tax benefits from the deduction of the third-quarter pension contribution on the company’s 2017 U.S. income-tax return. The full-year rate is estimated to be approximately 20 percent.