Clothing sector hard hit be economic downturn

The garment sector may soon be facing a major collapse. At the moment, even known brands such as Bytom, Próchnik, Vistula and Wólczanka are trying to keep their heads above water, as smaller entities seem almost certain to soon go under. Suit producer Bytom's liabilities surpass its assets and its equity still sojourns in the negative zone. However, its Q1 results showed it managed to reduce losses and the company claims they have some ideas how to further improve their results. Vistula is still suffering from an argument over who runs the company and it was forced to abandon its unsuccessful Artisti Italiani brand program, all which added to its Q1 results deep in the red. Its short-term liabilities have accumulated to zł. 50 million. Próchnik meanwhile, despite bolsterous pledges to return to profit, seems to be far from success. Contrarily, Wólczanka's net profit has returned to the black reaching zł. 1.39 million and shows rising hopes for the future. (Parkiet, May 10-12 p. 4) J.K.