Hyderabad-based Centuary Mattresses is planning to establish itself as the market leader in South India over the next three years. The company, which already leads in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with a 27 per cent market share, is turning its focus to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka to consolidate its presence in South India.

“In three years down the line, we would probably be at leadership position in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and among the top three in Karnataka,” Uttam Malani, Executive Director, Centuary Mattresses told BusinessLine last week. Centuary Mattresses is part of Shree Malani Group which also owns Shree Malani Foams. In FY19, the Group had a turnover of ₹415 crore, out of which ₹210 crore came from mattresses business and the remaining from foams business.

Shree Malani Foams is a major player in Polyurethane (PU) foam production which is used in furniture, automobile and bedding.

Malani said, the southern market is more brand conscious than the north. He also added that post GST implementation, there has been a marked conversion from the unorganised segment to organised mattresses segment in South India than any other region.

“But in northern and western markets, even now the unorganised market is still very dominant. Conversion to organised segment happens much faster in the south, so the branded players are seeing much better growth prospects in the south,” he added.

Centuary Mattresses currently enjoys a market share of 10-11 per cent at pan-India level, which is dominated by other branded players such as Bengaluru-based Kurl-on and Noida-based Sleepwell Mattress.

The company currently has three mattress manufacturing plants out of which two are located in Hyderabad and the third one in Bhubaneswar. Its distribution network is spread across 3,500 multi-brand retailers and 400 exclusive brand outlets under franchisee arrangements.

“Of late, we see that government-run institutions like hospitals and schools have seen a surge in demand for mattresses which was one of the neglected categories earlier,” Malani said adding that student housing will be one of the key drivers of this segment in the future.

The total capacity of the three manufacturing plants is seven lakh mattress per year, and the company currently operates at 80 per cent capacity.

“We are a fast-growing brand so we need to invest in extra capacity every year. We have added 20 percent capacity to one of our Hyderabad units even this year,” Malani said.

He also added that the company will set up a new plant every five years. “In another two years we will be looking at an investment in the northern part of the country,” he added.

Published on January 27, 2020