Market Hasnt Shaped Up To Our Expectations, Says Ehrnreich

K R Ehrnreich, president and chief executive officer, Philips India did not mince words about his company's performance in his first press conference after taking over late last year from H J J Rensma.

Investments in India: Minimal levels without quantification into critical areas with higher value addition.

On future profitability: Difficult to reach the Rs 22 crore level of 1995 but will definitely be in the vicinity of Rs 12-16 crore, much higher than 1996 levels.

On Samsung's claim to be have eroded its CTV markets: At an all-India leve,l we still stand by our contention that we have maintained our share notwithstanding the reports.

On investments already undertaken: A major part of the Rs 70 crore invested will benefit us later. At the same time, it is prudent to curtail or stop production wherever required.

On market growth: Definitely, the market has not shaped up to our inherent ambitions, but we await a clear directional policy for future plans and expansions.

On the future of the Rs 1,000 crore plus expansions planned: Not sure if that figure sounds right but surely such a huge expansion at the present juncture is unlikely.

On the changing focus of the Pune plant: From an internal supplier to the company for products such as resistors, capcitors, PCB boards and loud speakers it is fast turning into a supplier for outside corporates.

On recommendations of its European consultant, REL: Streamline entire process from planning, manufacture to the end consumer to ensure that stocks are mainly in the pipeline. Another area which the consultants ananlysed was the debtor situation within India and the cause of chronic overdues.

On Implementation of these recommendations: After the implementation of the REL recommendations there has been a substantial drop in inventory levels. Overdues in the market has dropped from 44 days to 42 days on an average and the working capital has dropped 3-4 per cent.