Mauritian conglomerate Ciel Ltd., intends to increase its output in its Indian textile plants by around one-third as it sees an opportunity in the region for its textiles cluster to enhance its supply to brands like Hugo Boss, Lacoste and Superdry.
Guillaume Dalais, the Chief Executive Officer, stated that the company’s textile branch in India produces approximately 15 million shirts annually and aims to produce 20 million pieces over the next three years. About 10,000 people are employed by those seven factories.
In an interview, Dalais stated, “We have already invested in our organic growth in textile,” according to Bloomberg. The company’s approach has been to seize fresh opportunities as manufacturing moves from Bangladesh and China to India. Around 75 per cent of its output is sent to the US and EU, where it is purchased by brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Polo.
As of 30th June 2024, Profit after tax (PAT) increased by 17 per cent to US $ 108 million, compared to last year’s US $ 93 million. EBITDA increased by 6 per cent to US $ 163 million from US $ 154 million.
Textiles brought in US $ 345.8 million in sales last year, or almost 45 per cent of the overall revenue for the diverse organisation. The segment’s after-tax profit dropped 26 per cent to US $ 17.6 million, according to an earnings report.
The business stated, “The cluster faced a challenging global retail market environment, resulting in lower sales volumes and softer demand, which primarily impacted our regional operations.”
Despite these headwinds, the operations in India delivered strong performances. EBITDA decreased to US $ 36.96 million, down from US $ 43.49 million, impacted by the drop in volume, inflationary pressures and exceptional reorganisation costs incurred in the region. Profit after tax stood at US $ 17 million from US $ 23.92 million last year.
In India, Ciel Textiles has Aquarelle, for casual and denim shirts and Laguna, for premium clean shirts in woven and Tropic, for men’s, ladies’ and kids’ knits.
This fiscal year, Ciel anticipates that activities in Madagascar and eastern Africa will contribute to double-digit pretax profit growth. More than half of its sales for the 12-month period ending in June came from foreign companies, which contributed to the pretax profit growth to 15 per cent over the previous year.
