Mauritius knitwear maker Ciel Textiles' Q2 pretax up 18 pct

Mauritian clothing maker Ciel Textiles reported an 18 percent rise in second-quarter pretax profit on Friday after an improved performance in its woven wear business.

The supplier of woven, knitwear and fine knits to Britain's Marks & Spencer and Next and Spain's Zara said pretax profit rose to 207.76 million rupees ($5.87 million) for the three months to Dec. 31.

Revenue rose to 2.52 billion rupees from 2.41 billion a year ago.

On a half-year basis, pretax profit rose to 440.90 million rupees from 409.58 million.

The clothing maker said forward order books for the next quarter are similar to those of last year but margins are under pressure, particularly in its knitwear division.

Ciel Textiles, which is listed on the island's secondary Development and Enterprise Market, said its earnings per share rose to 1.40 rupees in the second quarter from 1.21 rupees a year earlier.

$1 = 35.4100 Mauritius rupees