Rieter Reports Record 2006 Earnings

The Switzerland-based Rieter Group
reported the combined sales of its Textile Systems and Automotive Systems divisions rose by 15
percent in 2006 to a record 3,579.9 million Swiss francs (US$2,950 million). Operating result
before interest and taxes and excluding special charges increased by 31 percent to 256.3 million
Swiss francs (US$211.1 million); and net profit rose by 14 percent to 157.4 Swiss francs (US$129.7
million), equal to 4.6 percent of corporate output. As a result, the company’s Board of Directors
is proposing a dividend increase of 50 percent to 15 Swiss francs (US$12.36) per share for 2006.

Rieter Textile Systems saw positive momentum through the year in all staple fiber
activities, with particularly strong demand in Asian countries including most notably India, Turkey
and China. Although the division lost about 48.5 million Swiss francs (US$40 million) as a result
of the divestment of its man-made fiber operations during the year, it realized an overall increase
in orders of 46 percent to 1,724.3 million Swiss francs (US$1,421.1 million) and in sales of 29
percent to 1,400.7 million Swiss francs (US$1,154.3 million). The operating result for the year
rose by 84 percent to 148.2 million Swiss francs (US$122.1 million), equal to 11.1 percent of
corporate output. Earnings before interest and taxes totaled 92.7 million Swiss francs (US$76.4
million).

Editor’s note: Currency conversions are based on a rate of 1 Swiss franc equals
US$0.8241.


April 3, 2007

NSC Introduces VantageWinder Range Supplies Lentex With Spunlace Line

France-based NSC nonwoven reports its
new VantageWinder machine range offers lightweight nonwovens producers high-speed winding with
innovative features. Product tension, and nip and winding torque are constantly supervised and
adjusted, including during the reel-changing phase, enabling reel characteristics to remain
constant from start to finish. The VantageWinder also offers 11 adjustable and programmable
parameters enabling independent action on roller pressure, winding torque and web tension.

The new winders may also be combined with the VantageSlitter to cut daughter reels to
measure up to diameters of 2,200 millimeters at rates of up to 1,500 meters per minute.

In other news, Poland’s largest nonwovens producer, Lentex, has placed an order with NSC
nonwoven for its second spunlace line. The new line, scheduled for start up by the end of this
year, will be used to produce filtration and automotive products, among other technical
applications.

The order, led by NSC’s Asselin-Thibeau unit includes Rieter Perfojet spunlacing equipment,
NSC’s ProDyn® technology and BattCruise system, a new system placed immediately after the Asselin®
crosslapper that enables light, nonwoven fabrics to be produced at continuous linear speeds with
even overlaps and straight edges, thus increasing evenness, crosslapping quality and productivity,
according to the company.

Lentex’s order also includes the first Excelle® card and second EasyWinder to run in
Poland.


April 3, 2007

TenCate Receives Multimillion-Dollar Orders From US Military

TenCate Protective Fabrics USA – a
Union City, Ga.-based member of the Netherlands-based Royal TenCate Group – has received orders
from the US military for flame-resistant (FR) camouflage printed fabric, and the company’s newest
FR fabric, Defender™ M. The camouflage fabrics will be used to protect military personnel in
armored vehicles and aircraft against fire hazards, and the Defender M fabrics will be used in
garments to outfit soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Defender M was designed to provide durability, comfort and outstanding burn protection at
lower cost than competitive products. TenCate expects the military market for FR fabrics to
increase substantially because combat soldiers don’t currently wear FR garments.

These orders follow previous multimillion-dollar orders made at the end of last year. The
order for camouflage-printed fabrics is expected to total between $20 and $30 million. TenCate
expects to supply more than $34 million worth of Defender M fabrics over the next 12 months. The
company expects $17 million worth will be delivered to the US military in 2007 alone.


April 3, 2007

IBM Partners Offer ScheduleFLEX

IBM, White Plains, N.Y., has signed
an agreement with Greenville-based eBridge Technologies Inc. whereby IBM’s global business partners
will make available eBridge’s ScheduleFLEX Web-based manufacturing process scheduling and logistics
package. ScheduleFLEX also will be offered through IBM’s Global Solutions Catalog.

“eBridge is very excited to have ScheduleFLEX included as an IBM Solutions Proven product,
because now we are going to be able to offer our clients an even more cost-effective production
scheduling and logistics solution,” said Brad Cunningham, president, eBridge. “ScheduleFLEX
provides a very low cost of ownership and tremendous flexibility to our clients, by enabling supply
chain and customer collaboration, and enables great improvements for lean manufacturing.”<
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April 2004

VF Completes Sale Of Intimates Business To Fruit Of The Loom

VF Corp., Greensboro, N.C., has
completed sale of its international intimate apparel business — including such brands as
Vassarette®, Curvation®, Bestform®, Lily of France® and Vanity Fair® — to Fruit of the Loom Inc.,
Bowling Green, Ky., for $350 million. VF will use the proceeds from the sale to repurchase shares
in 2007. Fruit Of The Loom will operate the business as a wholly owned subsidiary under the name
Vanity Fair Brands.


April 3, 2007

Gildan To Complete Offshore Manufacturing Consolidations

Montreal-based branded basic apparel
manufacturer Gildan Activewear Inc. announced plans to shutter its two remaining textile facilities
in Montreal and its Bombay, N.Y.-based cutting facility during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007,
which ends September 30. In addition, the company is closing two Mexico-based sewing facilities
that receive fabric from its Canadian operations, effective immediately. These operations, which
employ some 465 people in Canada and the United States and 1,365 people in Mexico, will be
consolidated into expanded company hubs in Central America and the Caribbean Basin, which upon
consolidation will manufacture Gildan’s full range of fleece, sport shirt, T-shirt and underwear
products.

The company also will move its corporate offices from its knitting plant in Montreal to
leased facilities in the Montreal area.

Gildan expects the consolidation of manufacturing and ongoing expansion of capacity offshore
will contribute annual savings of $45 million in activewear manufacturing and freight costs and
duties beginning in fiscal 2008. The company also has expanded its sock manufacturing facility in
Honduras, and said it plans to use the efficiencies created by these offshore expansions to help it
increase its retail mass-market and wholesale screenprint market presence.


March 28, 2007

Wellman To Raise Fortrel Fiber Prices

Effective April 15, Wellman Inc., Fort Mill, S.C., will increase the prices of all Fortrel®
polyester staple fiber products by 5 cents per pound. The company said the price hike is necessary
to cover increased transportation, raw material and feedstock costs.


March 20, 2007

RadiciSpandex Names Carmen Marc Valvo To Judge Design Scholarship Contest

RadiciSpandex Corp., Gastonia, N.C.,
has named Carmen Marc Valvo to serve as designer judge and honoree for its eighth annual “Stretch
to the Future” Design Scholarship Competition. The competition encourages design students in their
creative development and in their use of fashion fabrics containing technical fibers such as
RadiciSpandex’s elastane fibers. This year’s contest will take place in April in New York City.

Entries will be submitted by members of the junior class of The Fashion School of Kent State
University, Kent, Ohio. The school also maintains studios in New York City and Florence, Italy,
where students may spend one semester of study.

Valvo — a celebrated designer whose fashion collections have been sold in top-of-the-line
department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and others since 1989 — will lead a
panel of judges including fashion editors and journalists, fashion school faculty members, and
textile executives. The panel will judge entries in garment categories including eveningwear,
swimwear, women’s sportswear and fantasy/bridal wear; and will award one Grand Prize, one First
Prize and one Second Prize scholarship from among all categories and one “Best Of” prize in each
category. Prizes will be awarded at a reception in New York City in May, at which time also Valvo
will receive the “Stretch to the Future” Designer Honoree Award.


March 20, 2007

ATHM Names Whatley Adjunct Curator Of Machinery

The American Textile History Museum
(ATHM), Lowell, Mass., has named Lowell McKay “Mac” Whatley as adjunct curator of machinery.
Whatley — a lawyer based in Asheboro, N.C., whose earlier professional career revolved around
archaeology and architectural history — has long had an interest in Southern textile history.

ATHM hired Whatley in conjunction with its decision to store much of its collection of
industrial-period textile machinery in Franklinville, N.C. The museum plans eventually to open a
satellite museum in North Carolina, recognizing that state’s strong textile history.

“The museum is very pleased to welcome Mac to our collections department,” said James “Jim”
Coleman, president and CEO, ATHM. “Mac is passionately interested in textile history, and we are
confident in his ability to promote the preservation, study and use of the museum’s machinery
collection. We see this as an important step toward becoming more of a national museum, with
greater public access to our vast collections.”


March 20, 2007

Hills Develops Nanofiber Meltblown Fabric Technology

Hills Inc., a West Melbourne,
Fla.-based specialty fiber extrusion equipment producer, has developed technology to produce
meltblown fibers with an average size of 250 nanometers (nm) and a range between 25 and 400 nm.

Hills said its development of meltblown nanofibers grew out of the company’s development of
true bicomponent meltblown extrusion equipment. The company has used its patented
printed-circuit-style extrusion dies to produce the fibers from high-melt-flow-index polypropylene.
According to Hills, a hole count of 100 holes per inch and up and extremely high length-to-diameter
ratios enable production of these nanofibers at reasonable rates, and puts meltblown production in
the same size range that was previously the exclusive domain of multicomponent spinning or
electrospinning technology.


March 20, 2007

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