Levi Strauss earnings rise 61% in 1st quarter

Levi Strauss & Co.’s fiscal first-quarter profit rose 61%, providing the latest sign that the long-suffering jeans maker is finally on the mend.

The company said Tuesday that it earned $86.6 million during the three months that ended Feb. 25 compared with net income of $53.8 million in the year-earlier period.

San Francisco-based Levi’s is privately held but still discloses its financial results because some of its debt is publicly traded.

First-quarter revenue rose 7% to $1.04 billion, a significant improvement for a company that had registered lower annual sales in nine of the last 10 years. Levi’s sales have increased in each of the last two quarters.

It also marked the sixth consecutive quarter that Levi’s profit has climbed from the previous year, a streak of prosperity that has spurred talk about an initial public offering of stock. The company went private in 1985 in a buyout engineered by the Haas family, the descendants of Levi’s founder.

Without ruling out the possibility of an IPO, Levi’s management has said the company remains focused on extending its recent momentum.

“We’re off to a good start this year,” said John Anderson, who was promoted to Levi’s chief executive late last year.

Anderson replaced Phil Marineau, who retired after a seven-year stint marked by thousands of employee layoffs, widespread factory closings and other cutbacks that were imposed as more than $3 billion in annual sales evaporated during Levi’s decade-long decline.

The cost cutting, coupled with debt reduction, has enabled the company to make more money on less revenue.

Levi’s also believes that it is winning back consumers with trendier clothing designs.

The company fared well in all its major markets during the quarter.

North American sales climbed 7% to $584 million. European sales increased 10% to $266 million. In the Asia Pacific, sales rose 4% to $188 million.