Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li>The branded apparel major is likely to see free cash flow this year itself, Chairman Gautam Singhania said in an <keyword id="975312" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="exclusive-interview">exclusive interview</keyword>.</li></ul><ul><li>Development of Thane land may be capital light, he said but stopped short of divulging details. </li></ul><ul><li>Do not paint Raymond with the same brush as other promoters, he hit back on the question of governance. </li></ul>Gautam Singhania, the second-generation promoter of Raymond Limited, whose businesses span from branded apparel and textile to fast-moving consumer goods to engineering and auto parts, is hoping that the business will increase its free cash flow as early as the current financial year that ends on March 31, 2019. Raymond’s stock price has multiplied over two-and-a-half times in the last three years. This, at a time when the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) was negative, and it has turned into the black only now. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[
<div class="flourish-embed" data-src="visualisation/260606"></div>
]]></cdata></div>















 The company posted a profit in four out of last five quarters. Most recently, the company declared a net profit of ₹ 260 million in the three months between October and December 2018. and Singhania is confident that it will only improve hereon. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="“We are at the end of the investment cycle, so you will start seeing free cash flow now; from this year itself.&quot;" auname="Gautam Singhania, Chairman, Raymond Limited"></div>















 The company’s debt has been a cause for concern in the Indian markets for long. But Singhania is not bothered by it. “At the end of the day, Raymond has a net debt of about ₹2,300 crores. I don’t sleep with a net debt of ₹2,000 crores, people with debt 20 times and 50 times the size sleep easy. I don’t know why we are worried about Raymond’s debt,” he candidly said. The plan to unlock value by selling a 20-acre land in Thane, in the outskirts of Mumbai, as well as non-core business like engineering and auto parts is on track, he said. The money from these sales will go into repaying debt, but Singhania is in no hurry. “At the end of the day you have to understand one thing, I will do it to the best of my ability and number two, I am the biggest gainer. That’s all I am concerned with. I will do whatever is in the best interest of shareholders. I am the largest shareholder,” he said. The company, which was admittedly looking to pare down debt by selling the Thane land, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/gautam-singhania-on-affordable-housing-foray-schools-and-expanding-raymond-into-small-towns/articleshow/67974132.cms">announced recently</a> that it would develop the project on its own instead. This may raise concerns on whether the company would end up adding to the debt in the process. But Singhania dismissed those fears, saying, “What makes you say that developing on our own cannot be capital light? That’s your assumption. I am not going to tell how I am going to do it. How I do it, I am not at liberty to discuss it with you.” The flamboyant 53-year-old who loves fast cars, high-flying private jets, and cruising speed boats has also faced some <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/raymond-rebounds-7-after-clarification-on-related-party-transaction-report/articleshow/67895858.cms">tough questions on corporate governance</a> in recent times, which he has vehemently denied. “You are not willing to accept that I am the only promoter in the country who has stepped off his own companies as chairman, has put in the highest level of corporate governance in the system, has got outside directors and outside professionals to take over as chairman. I have the best advisory board in the country. Don’t paint Raymond with the same paint brush as other promoters. Show me one other promoter who has done what Raymond has done, then talk to me,” Singhania said demanding credit for bringing in transparency in governance. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="&quot;Don’t paint Raymond with the same paint brush as other promoters.&quot;" auname="Gautam Singhania, Chairman, Raymond Limited"></div>















 Analysts seem to agree with Singhania’s narrative. “Over the last 2 years, a lot of changes in terms of management, brand positioning, disclosures, rationalising store network, etc. which have happened at Raymond post which the company has been steadily improving its performance on guided lines,” Edelweiss said in a report earlier this month. Room for growth Singhania is betting on Raymond’s scale and reach, and its well-known brand. “See, you always will have some competition, and it’s good. Some of the big brands will come to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai. Raymond today is in Tier-10 towns, we are 515 towns, we are competing in a different marketplace as well. A foreign brand in our space, I don’t want to take names, has been in this country for 30 years and it makes $2 million a year. It’s irrelevant to me. It doesn’t bother me,” he said. Additionally, Raymond’s franchisee model allows it to reach deeper into smaller towns without having to invest big money. “In the last 18 months, Raymond has added over 200 mini-TRS (The Raymond Shop) stores in over 180 towns, penetrating smaller cities,” PhillipCapital said in a note this month. As of now, the company makes over 70% of its revenue from textiles and branded apparel. Going forward, there will be an added focus on relatively new verticals like fast-moving consumer goods space, said Singhania. Having decoupled the group companies from the parent through management changes, the FMCG vertical will have to make its own business decisions. “It’s a separate business. It will find its own capital. If it requires capital, it will find it. It’s a professionally run company. Raymond capital doesn’t have to go there. Raymond will only put capital there only if it believes it wants to. The company will grow on its own steam. If it wants capital, it can go to the market and raise private equity or debt,” Singhania said.

EXCLUSIVE: Two revelations and a fiery defence from Raymond’s boss Gautam Singhania

<ul><li>The suits maker wants to become a lifestyle experience company targeting 'newly grown ups'.</li><li>The investments are going into rebuilding the entire value chain and the biggest chunk of the money is being spent on technology and digital infrastructure.</li><li>The sale of land parcel in Thane will give the company additional muscle as it invests in trying to reinvent the brand and the company.</li></ul>Raymond has been popular for its suits for decades in India but it wants to be more than that starting next year. “So we want to evolve from a clothing company to a lifestyle experience company,” Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Behl told Business Insider in an exclusive interview. And that would mean remodelling the entire value chain from the supply to technology to the digital infrastructure. “We have partners like SAP, Microsoft, PwC, Accenture have come together to look at every single node of our value chain and make us future-ready, for Raymond 3.0,” Behl said. Most of its investments are going into technology as the company shifts its focus to a younger audience, which Behl likes to call the ‘newly grown ups’. “There are massive IT investments, running into multi-million dollar investments, which are happening currently in under-layering or re-architecting the IT infrastructure of the company.... Our point of sale of in each of these (outlets) is going to change. This is a partnership with Microsoft which again is going to consume multi million dollars,” he added. 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[
<div class="flourish-embed" data-src="visualisation/757393"></div>
]]></cdata></div>



 In times of slowdown Earlier this year, Group Chairman <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/raymond-chairman-gautam-singhania-latest-interview-earnings-outlook/articleshow/68519775.cms">Gautam Singhania told Business Insider</a> that the company was likely to turn free cash flow in the financial year ending March 2019 itself. That didn’t happen. The slowdown in the economy and demand may have made matters worse in the months that followed for Raymond, which has a debt of about ₹2,300 crore on its books. Thankfully for the group, the much-awaited deal to sell a massive land parcel in Thane (nearMumbai has come through. On October 9, the company <a href="https://www.bseindia.com/corporates/anndet_new.aspx?newsid=b8f9b333-e7f1-4180-8af8-f47bca7e90b4">informed the stock exchanges</a> that the land has been agreed to be sold for ₹700 crore and will help improve cash flow amidst a broader slowdown in demand. Raymond makes nearly 60% of its revenue in the second half of the year thanks to a series of festivities and weddings across the country. However, this year’s festive season has been off to a sombre start. “There is a definite uptick though it was muted. This time, Onam has not been as.. because there were floods in Kerala and that impacted the sentiment to a very large extent. The Middle East has slowed down a lot versus a few years ago, and Kerala has a lot of Middle East economy that helps them spend. A combination of factors, we have seen a muted response during Onam. The early signs are looking good for <keyword id="6357908" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="durga-puja">Durga Puja</keyword>. Though it’s still not as bountiful as we expected,” he said. The interview with Behl took place on September 27. But Behl is confident of a high single-digit growth in topline and a double digit growth in bottomline. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[
<div class="flourish-embed" data-src="visualisation/753797"></div>
]]></cdata></div>

















 The share price of Raymond had lost over a third of its market value since the start of this year. However, the announcement of the land sale has given a huge fillip to the street sentiment. The share price jumped over 8% after the statement sent to the exchanges. “The fundamentals have not changed and the stock market is a consequence of fundamentals eventually. It’s a bit of catch up that will have to be done and it will happen,” Behl had said before the announcement. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/raymond-chairman-gautam-singhania-latest-interview-earnings-outlook/articleshow/68519775.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Two revelations and a fiery defence from Raymond’s boss Gautam Singhania</a>

Raymond is spending millions on SAP, Microsoft, PwC, and Accenture to rewire the company

You Searched For "gautam singhania latest" and got 2 results

EXCLUSIVE: Two revelations and a fiery defence from Raymond’s boss Gautam Singhania

Sriram Iyer

Raymond is spending millions on SAP, Microsoft, PwC, and Accenture to rewire the company

Sriram

Samarpita

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides