HYDERABAD: Bucking the slowdown trend, FMCG major Usha International Ltd said it was on course to clock a healthy double-digit growth of 15 per cent this fiscal (2019-20). In FY 2018-19 too, the company didn’t see any growth hiccups but rather crossed the half-a-billion-dollar milestone with revenues touching over Rs 3,000 crore.
Notwithstanding the slump in consumption, the company, which sells everything from fans to kitchen appliances and water pumps to decorative lights, launched 32 new products hoping for a good churn out of the ensuing festive quarter.
"Generally, after the monsoon and during the festive season, people repaint and renovate homes and upgrade home furnishings. We expect decent sales of fans, kitchen appliances and other categories, some of which are registering even 20 per cent growth," Sandeep Tewari, president (marketing), told TNIE.
The company has six broad product lines comprising fans, sewing machines, kitchen appliances, home comfort, lighting and niche products. Fans are the flagship product for Usha, raking in over 45 per cent of the total revenue. Its contribution, however, has reduced from over 50 per cent a few years ago, but Tewari maintains that the reduction was not because of slow sales but due to the widening growth of other product categories.
Reaffirming the growth in sales, he added that every month, about 50 lakh fans are sold across the country. Of this, Usha’s share is about 15 per cent; that is, one in every sixth product sold belongs to the company.
“Over the past few years, dependency on peak summer sales in April and May is getting flatter, as sales are spreading throughout the year. This is due to round-the-clock construction of new rooms, renovations and customers’ desire to upgrade to latest designs and functioning,” Tewari said.
Understandably, the company has multiple sub-categories of fans and has several colour and design options to choose from.
As for sales, the company relies both on retail and rural sales. While retail includes modern formats like e-commerce platforms and organised outlets, rural distribution is what the company is now focusing on through distributors and franchisees.