NEW DELHI: Raymond Ltd, one of India’s most prominent players in the textile market, said sequential improvement in the company’s performance is encouraging even as full recovery may take some more time.
The fashion retailer had recently reported consolidated net profit of Rs 22.18 crore for the quarter ending December 2020 as against a net loss of Rs 136.59 crore in the quarter ended September 2020.
Year-on-year, however, PAT was down 89 per cent. In an exclusive chat with The New Indian Express, Gautam Singhania, chairman and managing director of Raymond Group, said it may take up to six quarters for the economy to fully recover. Excerpts:
By when do you expect to see real economic growth?
Economy is still in the recovery phase. Different sectors are seeing varied elements of recovery. I am hopeful that things should get better because India’s economy has done better in terms of the Covid-19 impact. However, the emergence of a new strain is a worry. I think it would take 4-6 quarters (annualized basis) to come back to the pre-Covid level. If you take FY22, Q1 may not be 100 per cent of what it should be, but the Feb-March 2022 run-rate would be a good.
How has the performance of textile business been in recent months?
Quarter-on-quarter it is improving. The branded apparel segment is witnessing a gradual recovery led by festive and marriage demand during October-November. However, in December, the secondary sales were impacted due to lower walk-ins as certain restrictions on travel and mall timings continued. We are focusing on working capital management led by inventory reduction.
What is the current status of export business?
Export is tough. The recovery is lower in exports due to lower demand on account of the second wave of lockdown in the US and Europe markets where customers deferred their dispatch schedule. International market is going to take another quarter to see some recovery. But, t he good thing about Europe and American Market is that vaccination is going at a very fast pace. That should expedite the recovery.