Amtrex Pins Hope On Foreign Labels To Boost Volumes

Amtrex Appliances, the air-conditioner company of the Sanjay Lalbhai group, expects 25 per cent of its total turnover in five years to come from manufacturing for foreign private labels.

The company, which expects to grow by at least 10 times in five years to cross the Rs 1,000-crore sales turnover mark, has identified this segment as one of its thrust areas of growth.

"This is a very fast growing segment in the developed countries, given that many leading manufacturers in the west are gradually moving towards sourcing their products from a dedicated supplier, and we would like to target this for our future growth," said Arvind Nair, chief executive officer, Amtrex.

 

Nair sees the balance 75 per cent of the revenue coming from the sale of the company's own branded products, both in the country as well as in the export markets. It achieved a turnover of Rs 105 crore during the last fiscal.

Amtrex has also identified the business of project consultancy as one of its potential areas of diversification. It has already received proposals from interested clients from some of the west Asian countries. However, it has yet to take up any project as this sector is still at a relatively nascent stage.

Meanwhile, it has earmarked about Rs 10 crore for investing into the expansion and upgradation of its existing manufacturing facilities. Amtrex manufactures room air-conditioners of both window and split types.

While most of the window models have been indigenously developed, the company had signed a technical collaboration agreement with Japanese giant Hitachi in 1990. Currently, Amtrex is manufacturing and selling eight Hitachi air-conditioner models. It also recently diversified into the commercial refrigeration segment with a technical collaboration agreement with an Australian company.

Amtrex is investing about Rs 15 crore for setting up a manufacturing facility in the country for the viz., coolers and other commercial `showcases' that it will sell under this collaboration.

Meanwhile, the company has also tied up with IMI Cornelius, one of the world's leading manufacturers of vending machines, to import and sell their products in the country. Notable among Cornelius clients in the world are soft drinks giant Coca-Cola and the fast-food chain McDonald's.