Luxor eyes to cash in on CWG 2010, aims 15% sales increase

Buoyed by its licensing deal for the Commonwealth Games to be held here in October, writing instrument-maker Luxor today said it expects sales to jump by up to 15 per cent at the time of the sporting extravaganza.

The company, which is also turning its focus on Africa as part of global market expansion, is also aiming to nearly double its sales to Rs 600 crore in the next 3 years.

"It is an honour and a privilege for us to tie up with the Commonwealth Games (CWG). We will spend around Rs 10 crore on doing various promotional activities, on merchandising products for the games," Luxor Group Executive Director Pooja Jain told PTI.

She said the company is expecting a 10-15 per cent surge in sales during the month of August and October on the back of the merchandise sales for the upcoming games that will be held from October 3 to 14 this year.
    
Last fiscal, the company had a sales of Rs 350 crore, out of which Rs 100 crore came from the overseas markets.
    
"Our aim is to double our export business to Rs 200 crore in the next three years... So by 2013, we expect to have a total sales of around Rs 600 crore," she said.
    
"We will be increasing our focus in African markets in the coming years," she added.
    
At present, Luxor pens are exported to 85 countries across the globe.
    
Besides spreading its market presence, Luxor will also be enhancing its product range, particularly that of American premium  pen 'Parker', which Luxor has an exclusive right for making and selling in India.
    
"We are particularly focussed on the 'Parker' brand. We will expand the range, introduce in various price points in order to reach out to more customers. However, Parker will only be positioned in the premium segment," Jain said.
    
'Parker' pens are sold priced within the range of Rs 100 and Rs 5,000. Besides, it also sells three other international brands -- Waterman and Pilot-- apart from its own Luxor pen.
    
Jain said to keep in pace with the targets, Luxor is also looking at setting up a new manufacturing plant by next year.
    
"We are currently working on setting up another plant, somewhere near Delhi. By July-August, we would start setting up," she said, adding that the plant will be employing around 500 people.
    
She, however, did not disclose investments and capacity of the plant. It currently has five plants with total capacity to make 3.5 million pens per day.
    
Besides, the firm will also ramp up its retail presence to 100 stores, in the Tier II and Tier III cities in the next three years from its existing 20 stores in India.