Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Ltd (ABFRL) could surpass its target of reaching Rs. 21,000 crore in annualised revenues by 2026, and achieve higher milestones for the business going forward, said chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.
ABFRL is leveraging technology and its execution excellence to build a strong, profitable and future-ready brand portfolio, Birla told shareholders at the 15th Annual General Meeting of the company.
He further added,“We had projected a revenue of Rs. 21,000 crore for the year 2026 during our annual investor day held in March 2021. I am very confident that we will be able to surpass that target and set even higher milestones for the business going forward.”
For the financial year that ended on 31 March 2022, ABFRL’s revenue stood at Rs. 8,136 crore, recording a growth of 55 per cent.
ABFRL, which operates apparel brands such as Reebok, Van Heusen and Allen Solly in India, recently raised Rs. 2,195 crore from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC. The company said the money will support its growth in emerging areas such as ethnicwear, athleisure and D2C.
Over the last few years, ABFRL has diversified its portfolio by investing in homegrown labels – the firm had entered into a partnership with Shantanu and Nikhil by forging new alliances in FY ’21 with two of India’s most iconic designers – Tarun Tahiliani and Sabyasachi.
It had also entered into a tie-up with one of India’s youngest next-gen designers Masaba Gupta.
Through these acquisitions and partnerships, ABFRL now has one of the strongest and most comprehensive ethnic portfolios of brands in the Indian apparel industry and is now ready to expand exponentially, Birla added.
With regard to the global headwinds, Birla said “India has a robust pipeline of infrastructure projects. In addition, the Government’s pragmatic policies such as the production-linked incentive schemes are helping. Many industries have witnessed fresh project investment announcements.”
At the same time, he also cautioned that while businesses need to be on guard regarding market volatility and cost pressures, one expects the economy to show medium-to-long term growth recovery.
