Brands-To-Retail 12-08-2021 Hits: 1763

By the end of March '24, we want to have a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore: Dollar Industries' Vinod Kumar Gupta

Brands-To-Retail 12-08-2021 Hits: 1763

Dollar Industries

Brands-To-Retail 12-08-2021 Hits: 1763

12th August 2021, Mumbai:

"We're taking stronger steps to introduce more and more new product categories into the athleisure segment since this segment has a huge demand because today's work culture is converted into work from home."

We hope to jump into business with a growth rate of not less than 25% every year once this pandemic is over, say by the end of this fiscal year, because unless and until we do that, we will not be able to reach that Rs 2,000 crore number by the end of March '24, said Vinod Kumar Gupta, MD, Dollar Industries. Excerpts that have been edited:

There were lockdowns as a result of the COVID second wave, as well as lockdowns in states based on their circumstances. We would have easily surpassed Rs 350 crore in the first quarter if COVID second wave lockout had not been in place. However, we were only able to raise Rs 205 crore. We anticipate a total revenue of roughly Rs 1,300 crore for the year. So, based on the current financial year's turnover of Rs 1,300 crore, we expect an EBITDA of approximately 17 percent, a PBT of around 15 percent, and a PAT of around 11 percent. This is what we're working on, and we're hoping to succeed.

The holiday season is rapidly approaching. Tell us how you'd approach FY23, because that'll be the year of true normalisation. Our goal is to achieve a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore by the end of March '24. We want to get into business with a growth rate of not less than 25% per year after this epidemic is over, say by the end of this fiscal year, because unless and until we do, we will not be able to hit that Rs 2,000 crore mark by the end of March '24. Throughout the COVID period, everyone must have noted that the unorganised sector is in a serious state of distress due to a lack of money and production constraints. As a result, we're working extremely hard to grab those markets that are being taken over by unorganised players, and we're succeeding.

Contact us to learn more about the company's top-line growth strategy. What are you doing to differentiate your products and where are you focusing your distribution efforts? To begin with, we are constructing a 3.5 lakh square foot integrated warehouse in Calcutta. Of course, having an integrated warehouse will allow us to improve our margins by 1-2 percent in the future. Second, we are embracing digital marketing as a means of advertising our items directly to consumers. Number three, we are finding success in the war room by using various digital platforms such as an automatic supply system. We're also in the process of switching our ERP system to SAP. We will successfully migrate to SAP implementation at the conclusion of the current fiscal year.

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Then there's the athleisure section, where the total contribution is currently approximately 14%. We are developing new items for this particular segment, which is only two years old. Because there is a large gap in terms of organised players, we are steering our entire staff to get into this athleisure market. We're also taking stronger steps to introduce more and more new product segments into the athleisure category, because there's a lot of demand for it now that work culture has shifted to work from home. The corporation has begun taking initiatives to enhance output and improve supply chain efficiency in order to meet long-term capital targets.

We are already moving forward with the capex plan for the additional installation of a 20,000 spindle spinning machine for this purpose. We currently only have spinning mills with a capacity of 22,000 spindles. With an expenditure of roughly Rs 65 crore, we are investing in another spinning machine with 20,000 spindles. These are the efforts being done to get to the Rs 2,000 crore objective by the end of March 2024 as rapidly as possible. How will you fund this expansion, and how much debt do you currently have? Are you willing to take on some equity if it isn't required?

Whatever capex we have budgeted does not imply that we will have to spend it immediately. This capex will last for another year and a half, at which point all of our internal accruals will have taken care of the capex plan. As of now, we have not sought any outside funding.

Because of superior working capital management, we wish to cover the whole capex from internal accruals. On the working capital side, whatever working cycle we have now will be improved by 15 days by the end of this fiscal year. So, better working capital management and then the earnings that we will produce will take care of the capex plan.