)
Air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star Ltd plans to focus on tier III and IV towns while expecting its market share in residential segment to reach 9% next fiscal.
Know for its commercial air-conditioning (AC) business, the 70-year-old company had forayed into retail business to cater to residential units only in 2011. It claims to have market share of 7.5% in residential segment.
"The company recently undertook an extensive research in tier 3 and 4 towns to understand its brand saliency in these markets. And given the high aspirations of consumers in non-metros and recent success of the company in these markets, we intend to enhance advertising and brand promotion in these towns," Blue Star vice president, room air-conditioners division, C P Mukundan Menon said in Ahmedabad in Tuesday.
He said that they were witnessing higher demand for ACs in small towns, especially spilt ACs.
Talking about company's market share, Menon said,"In 2011-12 our market share in residential segment was 7.5%, which remained stagnant in this fiscal. However, in 2013-14 we expect the market to revive and are aiming to attain market share of 9%."
Menon said that the company was expecting a growth of 10-15% in its turnover this year, that is from Rs 2,700 crore to nearly Rs 3,000 crore. He further added that they would continue to be aggressive in the residential segment, which would be the driving force behind company's growth in years to come. "However, while being aggressive on residential segment, we do not want to soften over focus on our key competency, commercial air conditioning," Menon said.
Blue Star expects to sell over 25,000 AC units in Gujarat during 2013-14 and do business of nearly Rs 60 crore.
Residential segment ACs account for Rs 660 crore business of the company, refrigeration projects accounts for Rs 285 crore and cold storage Rs 135 crore, while rest is from commercial air conditioning business.
