Beware the quantum computers
Today’s encryption technology will be putty in the hands of those running the post-quantum world. How equipped ...
orient ceramics - Business Line
Orient Ceramics and Industries Ltd (OCIL) expects to turnaround the ailing tile maker Bell Ceramics that it acquired in December 2010 by the end of next fiscal through infusion of new technology and improving efficiencies.
OCIL, which became India's largest tile maker after the acquisition with a 10 per cent market share at present, had bought 68 per cent in Bell at a cost of Rs 19 crore. With this buyout, Orient, which is strong in the northern and eastern markets, could get an immediate presence in the southern and western markets that Bell had been servicing.
“We have already begun to get improved results from Bell operations. We expect to notch up a combined turnover of Rs 500 crore this fiscal (Bell results are being merged with OCIL's from the current quarter of this fiscal),” Mr Madhur Daga, OCIL Executive Director, told presspersons here on Tuesday.
Bell, which has two manufacturing facilities near Bangalore and in Gujarat, had a limited product range and lower operational efficiency, he pointed out. “Since we took over the company, Bell's operational efficiency improved from 60-65 per cent to 80-85 per cent with little or no investments from our side. Its turnaround will be reflected in our consolidated revenues next fiscal,” he said.
Imports
Orient, which has a current capacity of 30 crore sq feet per annum, is planning to sharpen focus on trading of imported tiles for the upper premium domestic market. “We are in talks with a clutch of European and Asian tile markers for import of their products for the domestic market. We expect to finalise a deal in the next quarter. We will create a new umbrella brand for such imported products,” Mr Vijay Shankar Sharma, the company's CFO, said.
The company's trading revenue at present is about 15 per cent of its overall sales and this is expected to double in the next two years.
To expand reach
OCIL is also increasing its marketing spends on its brand and expansion of its retail outreach.
The company, which opened its first shop-in-shop in Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad, plans to open 25 franchisee stores in the next one year, with four company-owned showrooms, and 75 shop-in-shop outlets across India.
On its plans to set up a manufacturing unit in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Daga said it would go slow on the project for now although it has acquired the land, in the light of the Bell acquisition.
Today’s encryption technology will be putty in the hands of those running the post-quantum world. How equipped ...
Rocketship’s Anand Rajaraman on getting pitches from places like Rameswaram and Patna
Bengaluru-based Archeron group plans to open five banks that are run entirely by AI and quantum technologies
Ably skippered by N Srinivasan, India Cements is upping its post-Covid-19 game by expanding capacity
Three-in-one: Passive debt funds come at a low cost and have high-quality portfolios. Some offer return ...
Trend in the rupee movement and Q4 earnings can give direction to the market
There is room for improvement in fund transfer options
Silver looks positive but lacks the higher volumes required to substantiate bullishness
In an age of falling female workforce participation, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, policy makers and ...
An ode to writer and great-uncle Ved Mehta, and Ekarat, the friend who wrote and quit on his own terms
A market run by women tells the inspiring story of female entrepreneurship in the North East
Murder is a theme that is unlikely to darken and yellow with time, the writer Truman Capote had once said.
Marketers are padded up, sponsorship deals have been struck, and campaigns are rolling out. Now let the games ...
And what marketers can possibly do to bring it back in our lives
The agency has changed form over the years but its lustre has not dimmed
Media Factory has purchased the majority stake held by Sam and Lara Balsara of Madison World in Madison Media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor