Lee Cooper aims to double India sales to $100 million in 5 years

NEW DELHI: Red Diamond Holdings Sarl, owner of fashion brand Lee Cooper, on Wednesday said it expects to more than double sales in India to up to $ 100 million in the next five years which could make the country its second largest market globally.


The company, which sells Lee Cooper brand of clothes and footwear, is also planning to enter fragrances and watches segment by the next year as part of a strategy to enhance its position in India.

"We have set a long-term target of more than doubling our revenue to $ 80-100 million in the next five years," Red Diamond Holdings Sarl Chief Executive Officer Andy Dunkley told PTI in an interview here.

The company had registered sales revenue of $ 40 million in 2012 "with a good double-digit growth".

"We are witnessing good growth in both turnover and unit sales in India despite slowdown in the economy...During this year, we are looking for 10-15 per rise in our turnover. We are happy with our performance in India," he added.

Globally, the company had a revenue of $ 450 million last year and is targeting $ 650 million by 2015.

Commenting on the potential of the Indian market, he said: "At present, the Indian market is third largest in the world after the Middle-East and Europe (for Lee Cooper). We see the European market going flat in future. If India continues to grow as per our expectations, it will be the second largest in the next five years."

In order to drive growth in the country, Dunkley said the company would enter new categories.

"We are looking to launch new categories in India. We have just introduced underwear range. By the end of this year, we will launch fragrances in India. These will be imported from Paris. Next year, we will enter the watch segment in India. We will launch our watches, which will be imported from Switzerland," he said.

Currently, the clothing segment accounts for 60 per cent of the Indian revenue, while the rest comes from footwear.

"In the next five years, clothing segment's share will increase to 70 per cent," he added.

On sourcing of products, he said at present 90 per cent of all its products sold in India are manufactured locally.

"We see this to remain at this level and continue to import some high-end products," he said, adding the company also sourced products from India for global operations.

"Of our total global sales, less than 5 per cent products are sourced from India. We source less than $ 20 million from India. To increase sourcing, it will depend on quality, cost and consistency of the products," Dunkley said.