NEW ZEALAND: Fabric Firm Experiencing Changes

Recently restructured New Zealand fabric manufacturer, Designer Textiles Ltd, is changing from a textile production company to a sales and marketing organisation, its chief executive has revealed.

Philip Moller said his firm was focused on returning to profitability and breaking into new overseas markets after asset write downs, redundancies and goodwill write-off costs of NZ$12 million in the year ended June 30 saw full-year net losses of NZ$11.6m, compared to a NZ$121,000 net loss the previous year.

The company has several operations in New Zealand and Australia, including Brisbane based Logan Textiles, which manufactures yarn-dyed stretch fabrics for swimwear and intimate apparel, and Auckland-based Prato Mills, which makes merino-wool-based garments.

"We are not sitting around complaining about import tariffs being reduced or business conditions being too tough," Moller told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

"We are changing from being a textile production company selling fabrics into a sales and marketing organisation that delivers textiles, ready made curtains, garments and other solutions to customers."

Moller added that as part of the restructure, the workforce at one of the company's two mills had been slashed by nearly 30 per cent and its manufacturing operations compete with outside businesses to supply products to Designer Textiles' marketing arm.