Apparel and footwear business Pacific Brands has abandoned talks over a possible sale of the company, and warned that earnings will be “materially down” for the rest of the fiscal year.

Following an approach to the company from KKR in January, Pacific Brands said it had received other enquiries in February, but announced today (15 May) that any acquisition was “unlikely to be forthcoming in the near term”.

The company reiterated its guidance that EBIT and net profit were both expected to be “materially down” in the remainder of the fiscal year, with underlying sales down thanks to weak retail conditions and changes to the customer base.

Pacific is forecasting full-year EBIT of about A$125-130m, but stressed that it was continuing to focus on the long-term health of the business, investing in its brands, rationalising its portfolio and reducing costs.

“Due to the transformation and restructuring work completed, the company remains well placed to deal with the challenges ahead of it and then to benefit from any improvement in market conditions,” it said.