S Kumars’ profit up

Textile major S Kumars Nationwide Ltd (SKNL) has posted a 42.1 per cent jump in consolidated

net profit to Rs 277.30 crores for the year ended March 31. It had reported a net profit of Rs 195.10 crores for the previous fiscal. The company’s net income from operations increased by 69.6 per cent to Rs 3,860.9 crores for the fiscal 2010 from Rs 2,276.2 crores in the previous year. Sales for the luxury textile segment, which comes under Reid & Taylor fabrics, grew by about 41.5 per cent, while ready-to-wear garments contributed strongly with a 58.8 per cent increase in sales over the last year.

With the recent acquisition of Hartmarx (now HMX Corp), the largest men’s tailored clothing company in America, SKNL has access to an array of international brands like Hickey Freeman, Bobby Jones, Hart Schaffner Marx, Exclusively Misook, Austin Reed and Monarchy. SKNL plans to launch two new brands, Kruger (casual premium) and World Player (economy), in the ready-to-wear segment this fiscal. World Player has already been launched in south India early this year on a pilot basis. Adding to it the company expects revenue of Rs 500 crores from this segment over the next three years. World Player will be available at 6,000 to 7,000 multi-brand outlets and is priced at Rs 99 for a T-shirt to Rs 450 for suiting’s and shirting’s.