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Actress and brand ambassador of Reckitt Benckiser, Katrina Kaif, with Mr C.M. Sethi, Managing Director of the company, at the launch of hair removal cream Veet in the Capital on Thursday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Nov. 4

RECKITT Benckiser India Ltd (RBIL) is in expansion mode. The company, which has just completed an organisational restructuring, is eyeing 10 per cent sales growth to Rs 750 crore in 2004. And being upbeat about the prospects of the Indian FMCG market, it plans to bring several of its global power brands into the country over the next two years.

The company on Thursday announced the launch of Veet hair remover cream, its second product in the personal grooming category this year.

"We have registered a healthy growth of 17 per cent last year so the slowdown of the FMCG sector has clearly not impacted RBIL. We are evaluating whether to launch some of our other power brands in India, in categories including water softeners, specialised fabric cleaners etc," Managing Director, Mr C.M. Sethi, told presspersons here.

Mr Sethi said the company has launched five new products within the last 12 months including Dettol skin care soap, Mortein power booster mosquito coil, Lizol floor cleaner and a mosquito vapouriser besides Veet.

Among the global power brands Reckitt Beckiser Plc owns are fabric care brand Vanish and dish care brand Calgonit. Mr Sethi said the Indian venture would bring only those global brands to India behind which it can put sustained marketing and sales effort.

For example, he said Veet alone would see Rs 15-crore investment in the next one year in advertising and brand building despite the fact that the brand is not expected to become profitable for the next several years.

He said most of the existing brands of the company in India were doing well. Its largest brand, Dettol, is worth Rs 300 crore, whereas Mortein is about Rs 140 crore and these two brands account for 60 per cent of the company's sales.

However, he said the company was looking at certain segments that have not grown in the last few years, taking the example of Robin Blue post wash brand. Worth Rs 75 crore, Mr Sethi said neither this brand nor the category has been growing for the last few years and the company was considering whether to withhold any further investments in Robin Blue.

Mr Sethi said the organisational restructuring project included closure of some manufacturing sites such as the one in Kolkata and another one that is manufacturing Robinson's Barley brand.

Also, the company has invested Rs 50 crore in setting up six new manufacturing facilities in excise-free zones of Assam, Baddi (Himachal Pradesh), Parwanu and Jammu and is evaluating opportunities for further capacity expansion.

He said Veet, sold over 50 countries, is among the core set of power brands for the company worldwide and its launch follows extensive market research within India. The market for hair removing products is worth Rs 40 crore in the country.

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