Rupa has established a strong brand recall in the economy and premium segments of the domestic innerwear market. The group has created over 10 sub-brands such as Frontline, Jon, Air, Macroman, Macroman M series, Euro, Bumchums, Thermocot, etc., catering to various segments under its umbrella brand Rupa.
The company has manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, Tirupur, Domjur and Ghaziabad. Across the country the company has sales offices in Patna, Varanasi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Indore, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Bengaluru, Tirupur, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
Rupa has achieved a growth of 8.09 per cent in sales and income from operations during the year under review. Revenue from operations, including other income, during 2014-15 was at Rs. 974 crores against Rs. 901 crores the previous year. Profit after tax for the year was Rs. 65.70 crores (Rs. 62 crores).
Diverse product offering
The Rupa Group caters to all segments across product categories with over 8,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) providing a wide diversity of product offerings.
The company is a leader in the innerwear industry having a large distribution network across India where its products are sold through more than 1,18,000 retail outlets. It has three central warehouses, 19 exclusive business outlets (Rupa – 2, M Series – 17) and 1000 dealers. The group owns a bouquet of knitted innerwear brands. The portfolio of products is diversified into various brands to cater to different socio-economic segments.
In addition to the domestic market, the group also plans to expand its network in the overseas markets as well. Presently exports account for only two per cent of the group’s annual operating income. Its products are exported to West Asia, Hong Kong, Africa, the UAE and Bangladesh. There are also plans to add new regions to the list.
Established market position, strong marketing and distribution network and well-recognised brands have helped the group to achieve a compound annual growth rate of around 11 per cent in operating income and net sales of Rs. 9.68 billion in 2014-15.
Sub-brands
Rupa Frontline takes pride in being a self-created and indigenous brand catering to all segments of population over the years. Launched in 1985, Rupa Frontline nurtured many sub-brands in its portfolio. The brand has been extended to various sub- brands like Ribline, Hunk, xinG, Stretcho, Skywings and Expando to differentiate each product offering from the other. Not only does this branding exercise create a difference between the product and the gender it caters to, but it also clearly demarcates brands catering to various socio-economic sections of the society with a promise to come up with newer segments in the future.
Rupa’s product portfolio comprises knitted innerwear, casual wear and thermal wear for men, women and kids. Its brands succeed in catering to the requirements of people of all age groups and varied socio-economic classes. The group has recently opened EBOs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities with a vision of making the brand more exclusive and coveted.
The Rupa Group plans to focus more on the super-premium and premium segments. With the increase in sales of super-premium and premium products, the group’s operating margin has increased to 14.2 per cent (2014-15) from 8.2 per cent (2008-09).
The group is aggressively focusing on its super-premium brand M Series, and has also opened 17 exclusive business outlets for it. The group has a higher operating margin because a higher percentage of premium segments contribute to around 18 per cent of the overall sales. The super-premium category has also witnessed growth and now contributes around 10 per cent of the group sales in 2014-15 against five per cent in 2008-09.
The Rupa Group launched Thermocot, the first branded winter wear in India, and won the T-excellence Award for Best Winter for Best Knitwear Brand, 2003-04. It pioneered printing of the brand name in the vest. This made the logo a design element to be flaunted.
Acclaimed by the Limca Book of Records as the largest hosiery and innerwear manufacturing and marketing company in India for 10 consecutive years, it is the first Indian company to launch bacteria-resistant briefs under its exclusive Euro brands.