Fashion
Eurozone manufacturing weakens in November as demand softens
Eurozone manufacturing activity slipped back into contraction in November as renewed demand-side weakness weighed on factory performance. The index fell to 49.6 from October’s neutral 50, according to the HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI).
The data, compiled by S&P Global, signalled a fresh, though marginal, deterioration in operating conditions across the single-currency bloc. The decline was the sharpest since June but remained modest.
Demand faltered again, with new orders, the PMI’s heaviest-weighted component, declining after stabilising in October. New export orders contracted for a fifth consecutive month, underscoring persistent challenges in overseas markets. Although the fall in total new work was marginal, factories increasingly relied on completing backlogs to support production.
Output rose for the ninth month running but at its slowest pace in the current growth sequence and only marginally overall. Weaker demand prompted firms to intensify retrenchment measures: employment fell at the fastest rate since April, purchasing activity dropped, and inventory depletion accelerated. Stocks of finished goods were reduced at the steepest pace in almost four-and-a-half years.
The survey highlighted growing supply-chain frictions despite softer demand pressures. Suppliers’ delivery times lengthened to the greatest degree since October 2022, with manufacturers citing material shortages and difficulties sourcing items from international vendors, S&P Global said in a release.
Cost pressures also re-emerged. Input prices saw their strongest monthly rise since March following an extended period of near-stability through 2025. Even so, the rate of increase was well below the long-term survey trend dating back to 1997. Output charges fell fractionally, marking the sixth decline in seven months and signalling limited pricing power among eurozone producers.
Performance diverged sharply by country. Ireland led growth with its fastest expansion in four months, and Austria and Italy returned to improvement. Spain, Greece and the Netherlands maintained growth, though at slower or steady rates. In contrast, Germany and France saw conditions worsen further, with both PMIs falling to nine-month lows and deeper into contraction.
Despite the setbacks, business confidence improved. Sentiment for the year ahead rose above its long-run average and hit its strongest level since June.
“The current picture of the eurozone is sobering, as the manufacturing sector is unable to break out of stagnation and is even tending towards contraction. In search of rays of hope, there are some notable developments. Spain’s industry is escaping the downward pull of the major eurozone economies and has remained in growth territory for the seventh month in a row. Although Italian factories are not showing any particular momentum, they are at least growing after a contraction in September and a stagnation in October,” Dr Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank, said commenting on the PMI data.
“Most companies in the eurozone are confident that they will be able to expand their production in the next twelve months. In this regard, the mood in Germany has improved somewhat, and in France there has even been a shift from pessimism to optimism. If one believes the saying that ‘half of economics is psychology,’ then this increased confidence is an indication that things will improve in the coming year,” Rubia concluded.
Eurozone manufacturing weakened in November as the PMI slipped to 49.6, signalling a renewed but modest contraction driven by softer demand and falling new orders.
Output growth slowed, employment and inventories fell sharply, and supply-chain delays intensified.
Input costs rose at their fastest pace since March, while output prices edged lower.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
Imports of knitted apparel and clothing accessories (Chapter **) were valued at $***.*** million in January ****, slightly lower than $***.*** million a year earlier. The imports of non-knitted apparel and clothing accessories (Chapter **) totalled $***.*** million, down *.** per cent from $***.*** million in January ****.
South Korea typically exports fabrics and textile materials while importing readymade garments. During January ****, exports of man-made filaments, strips and similar materials (Chapter **) were valued at $***.*** million, down *.** per cent from $***.*** million a year earlier. Exports of knitted or crocheted fabrics (Chapter **) reached $***.*** million, easing *.** per cent from $***.*** million.
The additional week in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, contributed approximately $37.0 million in consolidated net sales. On a comparable week basis, net sales grew 3.4 per cent. On a reported basis including the extra week in fiscal 2025, the US retail, international, and US wholesale segments grew 9.4 per cent, 10.2 per cent, and 3.4 per cent, respectively. US retail comparable net sales increased 4.7 per cent. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates used for translation in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, as compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, had a favourable effect on consolidated net sales of approximately $3.0 million, or 0.3 per cent.
Carter’s reported Q4 fiscal 2025 sales of $925.5 million, up 7.6 per cent, boosted by a $37 million extra week; on a comparable basis, sales rose 3.4 per cent.
Growth spanned US retail, international, and wholesale segments.
Operating income edged up to $84.7 million, though margin dipped to 9.2 per cent.
Full-year sales increased 1.9 per cent to $2.9 billion.
Operating income increased $1.5 million, or 1.8 per cent, to $84.7 million, compared to $83.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Operating margin decreased 50 basis points to 9.2 per cent, reflecting incremental tariff costs, investments in product mix and make, and higher performance-based compensation provisions, partially offset by higher pricing, lower corporate expenses, and an asset impairment charge in the prior year period.
“Carter’s delivered improved fourth quarter results with each of our business segments posting sales growth over last year. We see momentum building behind our products and demand creation initiatives, which have driven an improvement in the rate of traffic, new customer acquisition, higher realised pricing, and increased penetration of the best portions of our product assortments. All of this gives us confidence that our strategies are gaining traction,” said Douglas C Palladini, chief executive officer & president.
“2025 was a year of meaningful progress in stabilising our business while responding to significant new tariffs. We took actions to right-size our cost structure and we launched several important initiatives to improve the productivity of our merchandise assortments and store fleet. We also strengthened our balance sheet and liquidity with the successful refinancing of our long-term debt and a new asset-based revolving credit facility in place,” Palladini added.
Consolidated net sales increased $54.3 million, or 1.9 per cent, to $2.90 billion, compared to $2.84 billion in fiscal 2024, reflecting growth in our US retail and international segments that were partially offset by a decline in the US wholesale segment. The additional week in fiscal 2025, compared to fiscal 2024, contributed approximately $37.0 million in consolidated net sales. On a comparable week basis, net sales grew 0.6 per cent. On a reported basis including the extra week in fiscal 2025, the company’s US retail and international segments grew 3.5 per cent, and 6.3 per cent, respectively, while US wholesale net sales declined 2.0 per cent. US retail comparable net sales increased 1.4 per cent. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates used for translation in fiscal 2025, as compared to fiscal 2024, had an unfavourable effect on consolidated net sales of approximately $6.7 million, or 0.2 per cent, the company said in a press release.
“While we are encouraged by our progress, much work remains. Excluding the recent tariff developments, for 2026 we are planning growth in net sales as we build on the momentum of our product and demand creation strategies. We are also planning growth in operating income. We will remain focused and disciplined in our investments and overall spending and expect solid contributions from productivity initiatives. We believe the recent news regarding tariffs will be net positive for Carter’s, but it will take some time to fully understand the implications for our business and the broader marketplace. Our talented and dedicated teams and I are committed to returning Carter’s to long-term sustainable, profitable growth over time,” Palladini concluded.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)
The model will be fuelled by both domestic and foreign direct investment. The country’s tax-to-GDP ratio currently sits at the bottom level globally.
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, Prime Minister’s Adviser Finance and Planning, recently outlined a comprehensive road map to overhaul the country’s economic framework, setting a target to raise the tax-GDP ratio to 15 per cent by 2035, while taking the nation forward on a path of investment-led growth.
A key pillar of this transition is a significant increase in internal resource mobilisation, he said.
A key pillar of this transition is a significant increase in internal resource mobilisation, he said.
“The previous consumption-led growth model was unsustainable and had left the country burdened by a mountain of debt accumulated particularly between 2009 and 2024,” he told a recent roundtable on the government’s priorities in the short-to-medium term.
The roundtable was organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and The Daily Star newspaper.
There is a need for a tax culture rooted in investment, production and employment, he was cited as saying by domestic media reports.
He identified several systemic maladies in the current revenue structure that require urgent reform.
The government intends to move from greenfield incentives (based on identity and influence) to performance-based subsidies (ex-post subsidies), he said, adding that this model, which proved successful in the garments sector, will reward actual results rather than potential.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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