KM Birla rejigs top deck at fashion, retail biz to boost revenues

BANGALORE: In a bid to boost revenues amid bleak consumer spending, Kumar Mangalam Birla has effected top-level management changes at the AV Birla group���s lifestyle fashion and retail businesses. Pranab Barua, who was at the helm of Aditya Birla Retail, will now head Madura Garments, the country���s largest fashion house.

According to an internal announcement made on late Friday afternoon, Vikram Rao, who spearheaded Madura Garments for nearly a decade after its acquisition from Coats, is moving on to look after the group���s acrylic fibre and fabric operations in Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The changes come as profitability concerns have been mounting at Madura Garments, which owns brands like Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Peter England and Van Heusen. The company's aggressive store addition strategy, introduction of new retail formats and a sudden downturn in consumer sentiment have impacted its bottom line.

A group official said the shuffling of key managers was part of a periodic exercise undertaken to strengthen the overall management expertise.

Mr Rao was instrumental in the group's acquisition of Madura Garments in 1999 when it was a Rs 236-crore business. Madura's current top line has now shot up to Rs 1,000 crore and the company plans to achieve a revenue of $1 billion (Rs 48,000 crore) by 2012-13.

Mr Barua came into the Aditya Birla fold after the company acquired Trinethra Retail in 2007. Prior to that, he was the managing director at FMCG major Reckitt Benckiser.

In recent weeks, the group has also effected a rejig at Madura Garments Exports, the subsidiary that exports contracted garments. With the Rs 200-crore export outfit witnessing the exit of COO Partho P Kar, S Vishwanathan has been named the new head and R Swaminathan as the deputy COO. Both will report to Mr Barua now.