By Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond Limited
FY24 was the marquee year for Raymond Group when the Company demonstrated robust performance through the year and carved out a clear way forward for the future with affirmative corporate actions.
Almost all nations felt the effects of global economic uncertainty, including higher energy and food prices, inflation rates and volatile markets. In the world where geoeconomic fragmentation lingers, India continues to show resilience against the backdrop of a challenging global environment. This spirit was underpinned by robust domestic demand, strong public infrastructure investment and a strengthening financial sector.
A decade ago, India ranked as the ninth-largest economy globally, recently it climbed to fifth position and now projections indicate that India is poised to surpass Japan and Germany, positioning itself as the world’s third-largest economy by 2027-28. While most advanced economies (AEs) are facing an economic slowdown due to chronic shortages, high inflation, and aging populations, the Indian economy is acknowledged to be the fastest-growing large economy by major multilateral organizations.
In a multipolar world, the global order is witnessing notable shifts as Minilateralism is taking the precedence over Multilaterism and the case in point is when recently India and UAE signed key deals to strengthen I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE, USA) bloc. The benefits of Minilateralism are clear, and its continued proliferation is a sign of its growing importance in today’s complex and fast changing world.
As India continues to be a preferred sourcing destination, the China plus one strategy is playing its part. I am extremely delighted to share that Raymond is expanding its garmenting capacity by a third of its current levels. With this expansion of the capacity once fully commissioned will make Raymond the third largest suit maker in the world.
Unlocking Value
As stated earlier, FY24 has been the year to reckon with both in terms of stellar business performance and our value unlocking initiatives. In the beginning of FY24 Raymond Group became net debt free post the sale of our FMCG business two years ahead of stated deadline. The Company undertook a corporate action of demerging the Lifestyle business from Raymond Limited, a move to unlock value for its shareholders. Post this demerger there will be two listed companies Raymond Lifestyle Limited and Raymond Limited. The Realty business and Engineering business will be under Raymond Limited.
Venturing into Sunrise Sectors
FY24 witnessed a major acquisition by Raymond Group after a gap of nearly 20 years. Raymond bought over the business of Maini Precision Products Limited (MPPL) by acquiring a majority stake of 59.25%. This was a mindful extension to the existing Engineering business as it opens the new landscapes for future growth into sunrise sectors of Aerospace, Defence and EV components business. With the acquisition of MPPL, our engineering business is now consolidated, through a composite scheme of arrangements, two subsidiaries will be created. One will focus on Aerospace & Defence, while the other will cater to the Auto Components with EV and Engineering Consumables sector, each charting its unique path of growth with a primary objective of value creation.
Celebrating with Bharat
The brand Raymond has always been household name and it has been our consistent effort to be an intrinsic part of men’s wardrobe in the country. Taking this quest further, we had introduced Ethnix by Raymond couple of years ago as a brand for occasions and celebrations. As the Indian weddings are getting glitzier and people are celebrating the various occasions, we have expanded are our store footprint by taking Ethnix by Raymond to the length and breadth of the country. We achieved the milestone of having 100 exclusive branded outlets of Ethnix by Raymond and the total store count stands at 114 doors. Going forward we will open more doors for this category and will be celebrating with Bharat by adding 100+ of new stores of Ethnix by Raymond in fiscal 2025.
Building trust in Realty
Having achieved a milestone by delivering our first real estate project 2 years ahead of RERA timelines, Raymond Realty business has grown by leaps and bounds. In FY24, we moved beyond Thane with three Joint Development Agreements (JDA) in MMR region. During the fourth quarter of the fiscal, we launched our first JDA project in Bandra in Mumbai and received an overwhelming response from the home buyers. In a short span of five years, Raymond Realty has established itself in the sector and gaining a lot of customer trust.
Expanding the Pedagogy
In line with my stated mission to educate 1 lac children a year, I am delighted to state that we are currently educating 25000+ children across Singhania Schools. During the year we have added 3 new schools, and the total count stands at 10 schools. Additionally, through our digital platform, Quest+ we are providing quality education to over one lac students across different boards. The progress made to achieve this milestone of expanding Singhania School pedagogy is indeed heartening. Financial Year 2023-24 has been a remarkable year for the organisation as we were able to achieve the highest revenue and profitability. In its transformation journey, Raymond has exhibited the positive actions in form of selling the FMCG business, demerging the Lifestyle Business shaping the scalable Real Estate Business and consolidating and expanding the Engineering business resulting in shareholder value creation.
Raymond Group is pegging the future evolution on three vectors of growth viz Lifestyle, Real Estate and Engineering that will create shareholder value and today we stand at the Cusp of a New Beginning.
