KKCL eyes aggressive retail expansion in the Gulf

Kewal Kiran Clothing (KKCL), which already has a presence in the Gulf over the past 20 years, now plans to expand its operations in the region. The Gulf countries form more than 90 percent of the company’s exports. The company anticipates its international operations to grow by 25 percent year-on-year over the next few years.

Launched in 1989, KKCL’s product range consists of jeans and casual men’s wear labels such as Killer, LawmanPg3 and Integriti. In future, the company may extend its product offerings to add women’s or kids’ wear brands. The KKCL denim line is available from Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,200 and shirts start from Rs1,000 and go up to Rs1,600.

The company’s second quarter revenues in FY15 were in line but earnings were below CRISIL Research's estimates. Driven by a 5.2 percent year-on-year growth in apparel volumes, revenues grew 11.4 percent to Rs 1,298 million. Owing to an increase in raw material cost as a percentage of sales, EBITDA margin contracted for the fourth consecutive quarter by 320 bps to 27.5 percent.