Daikin eyes 75% of its sales from residential mkt this fiscal

The company reported a turnover of around Rs 1,800 crore in FY13, out of which residential segment contributed 60%, while remaining 40% by commercial and industrial segments

Betting big on the growing demand for household air-conditioners, Daikin Air-conditioning India expects nearly 75% of its revenues coming in from the residential segment this fiscal compared to 60% in FY'13, according to a top company official.

"After two tough years of slowdown, the air-conditioner market is seeing a revival, mainly in the residential segment. Since the residential segment has been our largest revenue contributer, we expect nearly 75% of turnover from this segment this fiscal," managing director Kanwal Jeet Jawa told PTI here.

The company had reported a turnover of around Rs 1,800 crore in FY13, out of which residential segment contributed 60%, while the remaining 40% by commercial and industrial segments, he said.

"We are witnessing a slowdown in the commercial and industrial segments over the past few years, mainly because projects are getting delayed. Given the environment of political instability and adverse exchange rate, we do not expect any improvement in the commercial and industrial demand," he said.

He said the growth in the air-conditioner industry is expected to remain flat in the first quarter of the fiscal at 5-6%. While the residential segment may grow by 10-12%, the commercial is likely to be between 2-3%, he said.

"For us, we expect the revenues from residential segment to grow 15%, while commercial (is expected) to log in 7% in the April-June period," Jawa said.

He further said the company is also taking several initiatives to expand its footprints in smaller cities to strengthen its hold in the HVAC (high voltage AC) market.

The company plans forays into new markets like Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Patna, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Lucknow, Vizag and Kochi, he said.

"We also plan to expand our national dealership network to 2,000 from the current number of 1,000 plus and develop 100 new Daikin exclusive solution plazas," Jawa added.