Page Industries Ltd. of Bangalore is the exclusive licensee of JOCKEY International Inc. of the US for manufacture and distribution of the JOCKEY brand innerwear, leisurewear for men and women in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UAE. It is also the exclusive licensee of Speedo International Ltd. of the UK for manufacture, marketing and distribution of the Speedo brand in India. Jockey products are retailed through 100 exclusive brand outlets and over 23,000 retail stores in 1,200 cities and towns across India.
In the early 1990s, when globalization was just unfolding in India, innerwear was a low involvement category for consumers. There was no organized international innerwear brand retailed in India. Page Industries identified this need and introduced a wide range of quality products for men and women by employing modern global marketing and distribution methods. The company commenced operations in 1995 with the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of Jockey products. By July 2012, the company’s workforce increased to 13,000, with manufacturing operations spread over 10 plants in Bangalore covering an area of 1,050,000 sq.ft.
In 2005 and 2009, the company was presented the “Best Licensee of the Year” Award. In 2010, it bagged the “International Licensee of the Decade” Award from Jockey International Inc., in recognition of its outstanding achievement in establishing, strengthening and maintaining global quality standards for the company’s JOCKEY brand across all its operations.
The company’s turnover for 2012-13 increased from Rs. 6,834.09 million to Rs. 8,634.64 million, registering a growth of 26 per cent. Net profit before tax increased by 24 per cent to Rs. 1,656.79 million from Rs. 1,340.94 million. Net profit stood at Rs. 1,125.33 million (Rs. 899.85 million), a growth of 25 per cent.
Commenting on the company’s performance, Mr. Sunder Ashok Genomal, Managing Director, Page Industries Ltd., proudly says: “The fourth quarter of the financial year 2012-13 has been extremely satisfactory, eventful and rewarding for us at Page Industries. We are proud and humbled at the same time to have been awarded the ‘Star SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) of the Year 2012’ by Business Standard, one of the most reputed business publications of our country. I had the honour to represent Page Industries and be the recipient of this prestigious award from the President of India, Hon. Shri Pranab Mukherjee. It was an emotional experience I will always cherish. This quarter also witnessed another milestone with the launch of our 100th exclusive brand store. With 72 stores in high streets and 28 in shopping malls with high footfalls, we are all set to rapidly broaden our exclusive brand outlet base throughout the country including smaller towns and tier 2 and 3 cities. The fourth quarter also saw good progress on the Speedo brand, which is now available in 531 plus stores including large format stores across 45 cities and five Speedo exclusive brand outlets located in Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. The initial response for Speedo products has been overwhelming.”
Expanding capacities
In order to meet the growing market demand for its products, Page Industries has expanded its production capacity at its manufacturing units in Kodichikkanahalli (capacity is stabilized and automated cutting machines installed), Hosa Road, Mangammapalya, Hennagara, Hassan, Begur (capacity stabilized) and Bommasandra (stabilized capacity with automated cutting machines) in Karnataka.
The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has allotted and handed over four acres of land at Gowribidanur in Chikkaballapura district to the manufacturer, where construction will commence soon. Also the company has been allotted five acres of land at Dodaballapura and Hassan.
Speedo
In its first full year of operations (2012-13), Page Industries achieved a turnover of Rs. 160.03 million for the Speedo brand. During the period, the company opened four exclusive Speedo brand outlets and subsequently by the end of the period, due to a significant demand in the market, the brand was made available in 630 stores, including large format stores across 62 cities, and five Speedo exclusive brand outlets located in Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune.
As for its Jockey brand, 29 more exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) were opened in almost all major cities in India, including Tier-II and III cities, during 2012-13, in addition to the existing 71 EBOs.
Brand health
A ‘brand health’ study was conducted by Nielsen Research Agency which involved 14 cities in all the four zones across the nation which has rated the Jockey brand health in India among the most powerful brands in its research experience across all categories.
Boston Consulting Group has recently come out with a report on Indian consumption growth story under the name “The Tiger Roars”. The report suggests that consumption of apparel will go up by four times between 2010 and 2020 and indicates that the consumption of premium brands, like Jockey, is expected to be even higher than the industry average. Apart from general growth in disposable income, the factors that determine consumption (education, occupation, exposure to the world, urbanization, rise in nuclear families, retail becoming more organized and consumers becoming more aspirational, discerning and brand savvy) well indicate that the Jockey brand is indeed a leading one in its category.
With the backing of Jockey International of the US, and access to ideas, trends and innovations from 40 other Jockey international licensees throughout the world, Page Industries’ long-term commitment to innovation will never waver with regard to its product, back-end processes and marketing.
With the company’s strong in-house back-end capabilities, manufacturing expertise and state-of-the-art technology, combined with a very strong distribution network, it is optimistic about its future prospects, sales growth and profitability in the coming years, further consolidating its position in the premium market for innerwear, leisurewear and sportswear.