Winter jacket maker Canada Goose expects double-digit growth: CEO

By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada Goose Inc, a maker of luxury winter down jackets, expects double-digit sales growth going forward and is forecasting revenue this year to be well over C$200 million ($176.76 million), its chief executive officer said on Wednesday. The Toronto-based manufacturer, which started in a small warehouse in 1957, has grown to about 1,000 workers and is known for its high-end coats, now sold in more than 50 countries. The international demand has helped drive sales growth of 30 to 40 percent annually, said Chief Executive Dani Reiss. "I don't see any reason why those rates will slow," he told Reuters in an interview at the company's new plant in Toronto. "Revenue this year will be significantly north of C$200 million." Dani declined to disclose detailed financial results or forecasts for the closely held company. An industry source told Reuters in 2013 that Canada Goose had annual sales of roughly C$200 million. The broader market for specialized and luxury outdoor clothing has also been growing. Brands like Italy's Moncler , which also sells luxury down jackets, are considered a high-growth luxury stock by many analysts. Late last year, Canada Goose sold a majority stake to Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital for an undisclosed amount to help meet its growth ambitions. Reiss, whose grandfather, Sam Tick, founded the company, says the deal has helped facilitate expansion. "I'm not worried that we're anywhere close to saturation or to having to worry about how to grow," he said. "I think we'll have a lot of growth ahead of us for a long time." Canada and the United States now account for about half the company's sales. The U.S. market in particular is expected to grow quickly over the next several years, said Reiss, who believes the company's commitment to manufacturing in Canada, at a time when other luxury brands are moving production overseas, is part of its success. The company, which makes more than half a million down jackets a year, officially opened its new 96,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Toronto on Wednesday. It is one of two main production plants that cut and assemble the jackets. The down used is a by-product of the food industry, said Reiss, with most of it sourced from Hutterite farmers who raise free-range flocks in the Canadian prairies. Many of the other jacket components, such as the fabric, are globally sourced. Once worn mostly by adventurers on expeditions to frigid climates, the jackets, priced from about C$600 to well over C$1,000, are now common in many northern cities like Toronto. (Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Gunna Dickson)