From the Sector

Bereits seit 1885 gibt es Deutschlands älteste Fahrrad-Marke Diamant. Täglich werden bis zu 1.500 der Fahrräder und E-Bikes in den Werken nähe Chemnitz produziert. Ob Montage, Logistik oder Qualität – die rund 450 Mitarbeiter:innen werden seit über 10 Jahren von dem Dienstleister CWS Workwear mit Arbeitskleidung versorgt.

Damit jedes Team in der großen Produktionshalle klar erkennbar ist, wurden die Mitarbeiter:innen der einzelnen Bereiche mit Poloshirts oder T-Shirts in einer speziellen Farbe ausgestattet. Auch Führungskräften und Azubis ist einer der insgesamt sieben Farbtöne zugeordnet. „Jedes Shirt trägt unser Diamant-Logo und den Mitarbeiternamen, sodass man jeden Kollegen immer direkt persönlich ansprechen kann“, erklärt Christin Seifert, Teamleiterin Recruiting bei Diamant Fahrradwerke GmbH, die Logik hinter dem Farbcoding.

Die individualisierte Arbeitskleidung unterstützt gleichzeitig den Zusammenhalt im Team und die Identifikation mit dem Arbeitgeber. Gleichzeitig die Mitarbeiter:innen bei ihrer Arbeitskleidung entlastet. Denn um die Bereitstellung und Pflege der Kleidung müssen sie sich nicht kümmern, das übernimmt der Dienstleister CWS.

Damit alle Abläufe so geregelt und einfach wie möglich gehalten werden, wurden von CWS Schranksysteme in den Umkleiden im Unternehmen aufgestellt. Jeder Mitarbeitende hat dort ein eigenes Fach, in dem er frische Arbeitskleidung vorfindet. Diese wird von CWS Workwear gewaschen und durch einen Servicefahrer bis ins Schrankfach angeliefert.

Durch gezielte und ressourcenschonende Waschprozesse in den Wäschereien hält die langlebige CWS Kleidung länger als herkömmliche Arbeitskleidung und muss seltener ausgetauscht werden. Wenn die Kleidung bei Eingang in die CWS Wäscherei verschlissen ist, wird sie durch neue ersetzt. Mit der Repair App können Mitarbeiter:innen zudem per Handy einen Reparaturwunsch an CWS senden kann, z.B. bei losen Knöpfen.

Ob bei neuen Mitarbeiter:innen oder Fluktuation, können die Verantwortlichen bei Diamant benötigte Teile jederzeit hinzubuchen oder abmelden, damit immer alle Beschäftigten optimal ausgestattet sind.

The Swedish textile-to-textile recycling company Renewcell has signed a Letter of Intent with Eastman, a leading US cellulosic acetate fiber producer, for a collaboration to develop Naia™ Renew ES yarns sourced from Circulose®, Renewcell’s 100% recycled textile raw material. The agreement is Renewcell’s first with a US-based fiber producer and an important step in developing the first acetate-based applications to use Circulose® feedstock.

”Eastman considering Circulose® as a feedstock in the production of a premium yarn like Naia™ Renew reflects very well on the Renewcell team’s ability to work with partners to adjust and optimize our product for new fiber applications. This agreement signals an acceleration of our joint efforts to bring Naia™ Renew ES yarns derived from Circulose® to market. I look forward to working alongside Eastman in making fashion circular.” comments Patrik Lundström, CEO of Renewcell.

Ruth Farell, GM of Eastman Textiles says: ”we are thrilled to collaborate with a pioneeer such as Renewcell to lower our reliance on virgin feedstocks, redefine the essence of textile waste and close the loop within the textiles industry. This collaboration is at the heart of our strategy to launch a portfolio of products with increased recycled content”

adidas and RIMOWA have come together to announce their inaugural capsule collection that seeks to offer explorers of the world the perfect tools to navigate and escape the cities of today.

Exclusively made in Germany, the cross-category collection features two contemporary designs: RIMOWA’s first-ever aluminium backpack and the ADIDAS NMD_S1 sneaker.

The RIMOWA x ADIDAS NMD_BACKPACK boasts new technical solutions that makes it suitable for outdoor needs and overnight trips. Made from RIMOWA’s signature grooved aluminium, it features a number of thoughtful functionalities, from padded utility shoulder straps fitted with a carabin and thumb loops to rope weight-bearing straps and grab handle. The piece also features foam ridges inspired by ADIDAS Boost foam overlaying the backpack’s grooved surface to ensure comfort, as well as an elasticated webbing running through its middle to secure the backpack onto the suitcase’s telescopic tubes. To allow for flat packing, a detachable gusset opens the backpack to reveal two deep zipped pockets, as well as a 16-inch laptop pocket inscribed with both brands’ logos.

The RIMOWA x ADIDAS NMD_S1 iteration features the futuristic sneaker’s signature Primeknit uppers in a titanium-inspired colourway, with the flexible ADIDAS Boost midsole in a light, almost translucent base colour.

• Currency-neutral sales up 4%, reflecting continued double-digit growth outside Greater China
• Gross margin down 1.0pp to 49.1% as price increases were more than offset by increased supply chain costs, higher discounting, and an unfavorable market mix
• Operating profit of € 564 million reflecting an operating margin of 8.8%
• Net income from continuing operations of € 66 million negatively impacted by several one-off costs totaling almost € 300 million as well as extraordinary tax effects in Q3

“The market environment shifted at the beginning of September as consumer demand in Western markets slowed and traffic trends in Greater China further deteriorated. As a result, we saw a significant inventory buildup across the industry, leading to higher promotional activity during the remainder of the year which will increasingly weigh on our earnings,” said adidas CFO Harm Ohlmeyer. “We are encouraged by the enthusiasm for the upcoming FIFA World Cup which is already noticeable in our Football revenue growth. And in North America we are gearing up for an exciting upcoming basketball launch.”

In the third quarter, adidas’ currency-neutral revenues increased 4%. While the company experienced high-single-digit top-line growth during the first two months of the period, deteriorating traffic trends in Greater China as well as slowing consumer demand in major Western markets weighed on the revenue development in September. In addition, the company’s decision to suspend its own operations in Russia at the end of Q1 significantly reduced revenues by more than € 100 million during the third quarter, particularly impacting the company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. In euro terms, the company’s revenues grew 11% to € 6.408 billion in the third quarter (2021: € 5.752 billion).

From a category perspective, revenue growth was the highest in adidas’ strategic growth categories Football and Running, both growing at strong double-digit rates. In Football, the jersey launches ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 fueled consumer excitement prior to the tournament. Revenues in Running were driven by the latest iterations of adidas’ successful running franchises, including Adizero and Supernova, which both grew more than 50% during the quarter. On the Lifestyle side, the further scaling of the successful Forum and Ozweego franchises led to strong double-digit growth for both product families. At the same time, additional highly limited drops as part of the Gucci and Balenciaga partnerships continued to spark excitement around the adidas brand.   

From a regional perspective, revenue growth was driven by the company’s Western markets and APAC, which combined continued to grow at a double-digit rate (+12%). In EMEA, revenues grew 7% despite the loss of revenue in Russia/CIS of more than € 100 million. Revenues in North America increased 8% during the quarter driven by a double-digit increase in the company’s DTC channel. In APAC and Latin America, revenue growth accelerated compared to Q2, reaching 15% and 51% respectively, year-on-year. In contrast, the company’s top-line development in Greater China continues to be severely impacted by the challenging market environment, mainly related to the ongoing covid-19-related restrictions. While the company’s own retail revenues in Greater China increased 7% in the third quarter reflecting a robust sell-out, the significant product takebacks reduced the company’s sell-in and resulted in a revenue decline of 27% for the market as a whole during the three-month period.  

Strong bottom-line improvement in 2023  
In 2023, the company expects the non-recurrence of the one-off costs of around € 500 million occurred in 2022 to have a positive impact on the net income development in the same magnitude. In addition, in light of the challenging market environment, adidas established a business improvement program to safeguard the company’s profitability in 2023. As part of this program the company has launched several initiatives to mitigate the significant cost increases resulting from the inflationary pressure across the company’s value chain as well as unfavorable currency movements. In total, the program, which will result in one-off costs of around € 50 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, is expected to compensate cost headwinds of up to € 500 million in 2023. In addition, it is expected to deliver a positive profit contribution of around € 200 million next year. 

Monforts will take part in a VDMA textile technology trade delegation to Turkmenistan from November 21-26, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economics.

Around 80% of Turkmenistan’s production of textiles and garments is currently exported, with a value of $350 million in 2020. This is now expected to rise to $450 million by 2023.

In addition to expanding in cotton yarns and fabrics, the country is also looking to enter other textile markets, including nonwovens, carpets and absorbent hygiene products, and negotiations are currently underway between the Turkmenistan Ministry of Textile Industry and the Korean Institute of Industrial Technologies to also commence manufacturing synthetic fibres from polymers.

In 2021, a new textile complex was opened by state-owned textile manufacturer Cotam in the city of Kaka, which is aiming to produce 3,650 tons of yarn, 12 million square metres of different types of fabrics and 1.2 million tons of finished products annually, with the creation of 1,300 new jobs.

Monforts has supplied seven complete finishing machine ranges to Turkmenistan company Cotam, as the Central Asian country looks to boost its production of cotton yarns and fabrics via an ambitious textile industry modernisation plan.

Cotam now has two separate manufacturing sites at Babadayhan and Kaka, both of which have now been equipped with Monforts technologies built at the company’s plant in St Stefan in Austria.

Cotam supplies finished fabrics to both the apparel and home textiles markets and at its Babadayhan plant is now operating two Montex stenter lines and a Monfortex sanforizing line. At its new Kaka plant, the company has also installed two Montex stenter lines, as well as a Thermex universal hotflue for continuous dyeing and curing.

“Turkmenistan celebrated 30 years of independence in 2021 and has made a giant leap forward in its progressive development,” said Monforts Managing Director Stefan Flöth. “A textile industry equipped with modern high-tech equipment has been created factories and equipped with the most advanced and high-performance equipment built and put into operation. We are extremely pleased that the Ministry of the Textile Industry of Turkmenistan chose Monforts machinery for its new textile complex in Kaka and together with the machines for Babadayhan and other recent projects we are proud to say that 15 Monforts machines are now established in the country.”

Iluna Group is back at MarediModa (November 8-10), the international fair dedicated to fabrics and accessories for the beachwear, underwear and athleisure sectors, to present its latest innovations, with a focus on a new beachwear sets able to combine aesthetic research and environmental responsibility.

In terms of aesthetic innovation, exploration continues with matchy pareos and allovers, double laces with colorful charmeuses and multicolour laces enriched with iridescent effects (Lurex). A novelty of this season is the new double face printing on polyamide with a high sea fastness and iridescent effects on GRS-certified tulle.

The GRS certified Green Label collection uses Renycle® and Q-NOVA®, both GRS-certified pre-consumer recycled polyamide yarns in addition to the recycled stretch ROICA™ EF by Asahi Kasei.

The BIOLINE embraces the circular economy and presents proposals containing Amni Soul Eco® and ROICA™ V550. Moreover, the continuous path through the new dimension of responsibility continues in several directions: experiments with 16 different natural dyestuffs; and continued investment in technologies that can ensure significant savings in water and energy consumption, including GREENDROP, the new GOTS-certified digital pigment printing system.

The Supervisory Board of adidas AG resolved upon the succession for adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted. Effective January 1, 2023, Bjørn Gulden is appointed as member of the Executive Board and CEO of adidas AG. Kasper Rorsted and the Supervisory Board mutually agreed that he will step down as CEO and leave the company upon expiry of November 11, 2022. Harm Ohlmeyer, Chief Financial Officer of adidas AG, will lead the company in the interim until December 31, 2022. The Supervisory Board had announced a CEO transition on August 22, 2022.

Bjørn Gulden is 57 years old, Norwegian and has been CEO of Puma SE since 2013. Bjørn Gulden looks back at a tenure at adidas as, amongst others, Senior Vice President of Apparel and Accessories from 1992 to 1999. Additionally, he was CEO of Danish jewelry brand Pandora, Managing Director of footwear retailer Deichmann, President of Rack Room Shoes, and held various management positions at outdoor apparel company Helly Hansen. He also holds the position of Chairman of the Board of Salling Group, Denmark’s largest food retailer.

“We are very pleased to welcome Bjørn Gulden back at adidas. Bjørn Gulden brings almost 30 years of experience in the sporting goods and footwear industry. As a result, he knows the industry extremely well and draws on a rich network in sport and retail. Bjørn Gulden already served adidas successfully for seven years in the 1990s. As CEO of Puma, he re-invigorated the brand and led the company to record results. The Supervisory Board of adidas AG is convinced that Bjørn Gulden will head adidas into a new era of strength and is looking very much forward to a successful cooperation,” said Thomas Rabe, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of adidas AG. 

• Sales of CHF 366.8 million in the third quarter, CHF 987.4 million after nine months
• Order intake of CHF 226.4 million in the third quarter, CHF 1 095.8 million after nine months
• Order backlog of around CHF 2 000 million as of September 30, 2022
• Precautionary measures taken against potential energy crisis in Europe
• Financing of a Professorship for Artificial Intelligence
• Rieter site sales process on schedule
• Outlook 2022

Rieter recorded a significant increase in sales in the third quarter of 2022, reaching a level of CHF 366.8 million (2021: CHF 257.3 million). The measures introduced to increase sales and profitability in the second half of 2022 are taking effect and will continue to be implemented in a systematic manner. These include a close cooperation with key suppliers, the development of alternative solutions to eliminate material shortages, the enforcement of price increases, and the improvement of the margin quality of the order backlog.

The order intake of CHF 226.4 million in the third quarter of 2022 reflects the expected normalization of demand for new equipment compared to the record year of 2021, which was characterized by catch-up effects and the regional shift in demand. In addition, the well-known uncertainties and risks and the continuing extremely long delivery times at key manufacturers had a dampening effect on demand. Due to the slowdown in capacity utilization in the spinning mills, demand for consumables, wear & tear and spare parts also declined in the third quarter of 2022. Major orders continued to be recorded from Turkey, Uzbekistan, and China.

Rieter has a high order backlog of around CHF 2 000 million as of September 30, 2022 (September 30, 2021: CHF 1 562 million), which will guarantee capacity utilization in all three business groups until well into 2023 or rather 2024. The cancellation rate in the reporting period was around 5% of the order backlog.

Outlook 2022
Rieter anticipates weakened demand for new systems in the coming months. The demand for consumables, wear & tear and spare parts will depend on the capacity utilization of spinning mills in the months ahead.

For the full year 2022, Rieter expects sales of around CHF 1 400 million. The realization of sales revenue from the order backlog continues to be associated with risks in relation to the well-known uncertainties.

Despite significantly higher sales compared to the prior-year period, Rieter expects EBIT and net result for 2022 to be below the previous year’s level. This is due to the considerable increases in the cost of materials and logistics, additional costs for compensation of material shortages as well as expenses in connection with the acquisition in the years 2021/2022.

• Positive business development in all four business units
• Sales increases by 14.8% to €853.9 million
• Adjusted EBITDA improves by 25.4% to €136.1 million
• Successful refinancing of the 2018 convertible bonds

After €270.9 million in Q1 2022 and €278.9 million in Q2, SGL Carbon increased its consolidated sales to €304.1 million in Q3 2022. After nine months, this corresponds to a significant sales growth of 14.8% to a total of €853.9 million (9M 2021: €743.5 million). The positive business development is also reflected in the company's adjusted EBITDA, which improved by 25.4% year-on-year to €136.1 million (9M 2021: €108.5 million). All four business units contributed to the operating success.

Outlook
Due to the positive business development, the management increased the forecast for the full year on 6 September 2022. For the financial year 2022, Group sales of approx. €1.2 billion (previously: approx. €1.1 billion) and adjusted EBITDA of €170 to 190 million (previously: €130 to 150 million) are expected.

Consequently, an adjusted EBIT of €110 to 130 million (previously: €70 to 90 million) is forecasted. The expectations for return on capital employed (ROCE) of originally 7% to 9% are raised to 10% to 12% in line with the development of earnings. The estimate for free cash flow (significantly below the previous year's level of €111.5 million) remains unchanged.