Clothing Company Shows Modest Gains

Levi Strauss said today that it ended 2002 with its second consecutive quarter of modest sales gains. The company says the news means this year could be its first year of growth since the mid-1990s.

The San Francisco-based company€™s sales for the three months ending November 24th totaled $1.26 billion – a two percent increase from the same time last year. The improvement followed a three percent third-quarter increase that heralded Levi€™s first quarter of higher sales in six years.

However, the rising sales didn€™t work any magic with Levi€™s profits.

The company earned $45 million in the fourth quarter, a 29 percent decrease from the previous year. Although it is privately held, Levi€™s discloses financial results because some of its debt is publicly traded.