India: Raymond launches ready-made garments

MUMBAI: Textile major Raymond has decided to take its 80-year-old brand Raymond into the branded ready-made garment segment.
The company on Thursday launched Raymond Finely Crafted Garments (Raymond FCG), its new ready-made garments, reports Our Bureau.

“For the first time, we are bringing our 80-year-old brand Raymond into the ready-made garment segment. Raymond has been providing its customers with the best in fashion and style. Raymond is the first choice of million and is the leading menswear brand in the country. With the launch of Raymond FCG, we are extending the same brand experience to our customers,” chairman and managing director Gautam Singhania said. The company expects the new range, Raymond FCG, to garner a revenue of Rs 100 crore in the next 2-3 years, Mr Singhania said.

With a capacity of 33 million metres of wool and wool-blended fabrics, Raymond has over 60% market share in the worsted suiting market in India.
Meanwhile, Raymond group president Pradeep Bhandari said that the company expects revenue to grow 20% and exports to rise 10% in the current financial year on the back of an increase in export prices.
The company, which owns brands such as Park Avenue, Parx, Manzoni and ColorPlus, recorded a turnover of Rs 1,284 crore in the year ended March 2007. Exports had accounted for about 15%.
Raymond recently increased its export prices by 6-7% to manage the appreciation in the rupee vis-a-vis US dollar, Bhandari said.
Apart from selling branded garments both for men and women, Raymond is also into manufacturing and selling fabrics. “Our fabric business is growing by 10-15%, while the apparel business has been witnessing 40% growth year-on-year,” Mr Bhandari said.
Separately, Mr Singhania said Raymond has no plans to spin off its retail business into a separate business.
“We have over 400 retail stores now and we want to make it to 1,000 in the next three years. There, however, has no plans to spin off the retail business,” Mr Singhania said. var RN = new String (Math.random()); var RNS = RN.substring (2,11); b2 = ' '; if (doweshowbellyad==1) bellyad.innerHTML = b2;