Aditya Birla Nuvo is a $4 billion conglomerate commanding leadership position in India across its financial services, fashion and life style, telecom and manufacturing businesses. The company has built many large-scale businesses from scratch. Mergers and acquisitions have also played a key role in the company’s transformational journey from a manufacturing company in the late 1990s to a premium conglomerate today.
In its journey in the last 15 years, the consolidated revenue of Aditya Birla Nuvo has risen 20 times to Rs. 23,893 crores. Its market capitalization has surged 32 times, to over Rs. 17,500 crores. Today the company touches the lives of more than 135 million Indians. It offers varied products and services through more than 30 popular brands to meet their life assurance, investment, consumption, agri, fashion and lifestyle needs. Idea Cellular, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Peter England, Pantaloons, Birla Sun Life, Aditya Birla Finance and Ray One are among the most admired brands in India. Aditya Birla Nuvo is proud to be a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a $40 billion multinational. The group’s operations are spread over 36 countries and six continents.
The company’s fashion and lifestyle business comprising Madura, Pantaloons and Jaya Shree is the largest branded apparel player in India. Its retail network has an unparalleled nationwide presence, with 1,750 exclusive brand outlets and stores spanning 4.3 million sq. ft.
Madura Fashion and Lifestyle
Madura achieved all-round growth in top-line, profitability and free cash flows. Its flagship brands, Louis Philippe and Van Heusen, are the best-selling brands in India. Madura also retails international brands like Armani Collezioni, Hugo Boss, Versace Collection, and many more under one roof ‘The Collective’. It has also launched Hackett’s mono brand stores.
The combined revenue of the fashion and lifestyle business soared by 23 per cent to Rs. 6,048 crores led by Madura Fashion & Lifestyle. Driven by stores expansion and like-to-like stores sales growth, Madura’s revenue rose by 28 per cent to Rs. 3,226 crores. The retail channel comprising 1,541 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) and spanning across 2.2 million sq. ft., accounts for 44 per cent of Madura’s revenue. Besides these EBOs, Madura is reaching customers through a widespread network of MBOs, department stores and its e-commerce portal www.TRENDIN.com.
Pantaloons Fashion and Retail
Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Ltd. (PFRL) is in the investment phase and is strengthening its retail presence, brand portfolio and merchandise to enhance sell through. The company has reported revenue of Rs. 1,661 crores in 2013-14.
In order to expand its customer reach, PFRL launched 14 new Pantaloons stores and one factory outlet, taking the total count to 81 Pantaloons stores and 26 factory outlets in the country. In fiscal 2014-15, the company is planning to launch 18 to 20 more stores to reach its 100-store mark.
To strengthen the high margin private labels portfolios of the company, three new brands were launched – Byford in men’s sportswear category, Alto Moda in the plus-size category and Chirpie Pie for infants. To widen its menswear segment, Pantaloons has also started retailing the country’s leading brands, viz., Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England.
Today, Pantaloons is among the top three large format fashion retailers in India with nearly 4.3 million loyal customers, the largest in the country.
Jay Shree Textiles
To capitalize on the buoyant demand and to strengthen its domestic leadership position in the linen segment, Jaya Shree Textiles has expanded its linen yarn capacity from 2,300 tons to 3,400 tons per annum and the linen fabric processing capacity from 7.3 million metres to 10.1 million metres per annum. The revenue of Jaya Shree Textiles grew by 14 per cent to Rs. 1,300 crores driven by expansion-led volume growth and higher realisation in the linen segment.
Jaya Shree operates in two business segments – linen and wool. The linen industry registered strong growth in demand. The wool industry witnessed sluggish demand worldwide due to highly volatile wool prices and a crisis in Europe, one of the largest wool consumers.
The company is the largest manufacturer of linen yarn and linen fabric in India. It retails linen fabric under the well-known brand “Linen Club Fabrics”. The company is a leading manufacturer of wool tops and worsted yarn in India with a capacity of eight carding machines and 26,112 spindles respectively.
Jaya Shree is focusing on the high margin Linen Fabric OTC segment. It added 26 new ‘Linen Club Fabrics’ EBOs during the year, taking the total to 102. The Linen Club is also being retailed through more than 3,400 MBOs.
Rayon business
Aditya Birla Nuvo’s rayon business remained the largest Indian exporter of viscose filament yarn (VFY) for the ninth consecutive year. The new VFY capacity using spool technology from Enka, Germany is running at full capacity.
Viscose filament yarn is a man- made natural filament yarn having the comfort of cotton and the lustre of silk. It is used in georgette and crepe fabrics, home textiles, embroidery, etc. During 2013-14, domestic consumption of VFY grew by 2.1 per cent to 56,453 MT. Domestic VFY production has increased by 2.6 per cent to 44,006 MT.
Indian Rayon is the second largest manufacturer of VFY in India with a 41 per cent share in the industry’s production. In 2013-14, Indian Rayon recorded its highest-ever revenues from the VFY segment which grew by 16 per cent to Rs. 659 crores. Total revenue of Indian Rayon grew by 11 per cent to Rs. 860 crores.
The growth in superfine and fine deniers in the domestic VFY market is likely to remain stable. With the ramp-up of the superfine yarn unit and leveraging of the Enka trademark, Indian Rayon is well positioned to improve its market share and earnings. Higher yarn imports are likely to remain a challenge for the domestic manufacturers.