The Hindu Business Line : H&R Johnson adding capacity, plans more outlets

Chennai, March 7 H&R Johnson (India) Ltd, which is completing 50 years of business this year, is adding capacity and setting up more House of Johnson outlets.

The company, which intends to be among the top five tile companies in the world, believes that the way forward is to become a complete bathroom solutions company that sells everything from tiles to sanitaryware and shower cubicles. It is investing Rs 1,000 crore in manufacturing in the next five years, Mr Vijay Aggarwal, Managing Director, H&R Johnson, told Business Line. The company now has facilities in seven locations and is adding three more units, in the South, West and North. It also intends to expand its bathroom products and industrial tiles division rapidly, and is test-marketing wooden flooring as well, he added.

H&R Johnson, whose brands include Marbonite vitrified tiles, Johnson floor and wall tiles, Milano bathroom products and Endura industrial tiles, is hiking marketing budgets to Rs 40 crore in the new financial year, from Rs 30 crore. It is going to set up 10 more House of Johnson outlets; it now has 20. These are not sales outlets but display centres that consumers can visit to see the full range of what the company has to offer. The company has a network of 1,200 dealers and 12,000 sub-dealers.

market share growing

The Rs 1,000-crore company aims for a Rs 3,000-crore turnover in the next five years. Its capacity in 2007 stood at 32 million sq m, Mr Aggarwal said. The tile industry in India is estimated at Rs 7,000 crore , of which the unorganised market accounts for Rs 4,000 crore. The market is growing at 14 per cent, but H&R Johnson is growing at 20 per cent and gaining market share every year, Mr Aggarwal said. The company has the largest share of the organised market, at 30 per cent, followed by Kajaria Tiles and Somany, in that order, he added.

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