Counselor Top 40 supplier Gildan (asi/56842) posted nearly 11% year-over-year net sales growth for 2025, according to recently reported full-year financial results.

The publicly traded firm increased overall sales across all business channels – including business in the promotional products and apparel sector – to more than $3.6 billion in 2025. Gildan noted a particularly strong 21% growth for its underwear and hosiery division – mainly due to the company’s 2025 acquisition of fellow supplier HanesBrands (asi/59528), which was finalized in December. Activewear sales, which make up the bulk of Gildan’s business, grew 9%.

“2025 was another important year for Gildan,” said Gildan President and CEO Glenn Chamandy. “Our results underscore the impressive execution by our global team whose focus is now on fully capturing the value of our expanded platform.”

If HanesBrands’ $217 million sales contribution is excluded, year-over-year sales growth was a more modest 4% compared to 2024, the company stated, which was in line with guidance released after the third quarter. Full-year basic earnings per share were $2.57, up from $2.46 in 2024.

Gross profit was up $126 million to about $1.13 billion total for 2025. But net earnings, which factor in other expenses like taxes and operations, were down about 1.7% to $393.9 million – at least the fourth year in a row for the company to experience such a decline.

For 2025, Gildan said the decrease was primarily driven by restructuring and other acquisition-related costs associated with the purchase and integration of Hanes. Notably, advisory, legal and other expenses related to Gildan’s epic 2023/2024 proxy fight between the company’s board of directors and leadership were significantly reduced in 2025.

The company’s growth in 2025 was capped off by a particularly strong fourth quarter, with sales increasing 31.3% year over year to $1.08 billion. That growth did include HanesBrands’ sales contributions for the month of December after the acquisition was completed, but was mitigated in some respects by a decline of roughly 60% in net earnings, again associated with the acquisition. Gildan’s estimate of adjusted net earnings, though, which excluded factors like acquisition and restructuring costs, estimated a net earnings increase of 19.7%.

“As we look ahead to 2026, we are very excited about the HanesBrands acquisition which doubles our scale; combines iconic brands with our world-class, low-cost, vertically integrated platform; and unlocks a powerful engine for innovation and growth,” Chamandy said. “The integration is well underway and we now expect to deliver higher than initially targeted run-rate cost synergies.”

Gildan ranked third on Counselor’s most recent list of top suppliers in the industry, based on 2024 North American promotional products revenue of $784 million.