Raymond Ltd, one of India’s leading textile and apparel producers, an proprietors of the 3,000-store Raymond Shop retail chain, has reported an 82% drop in profits for the fiscal year ending March 2013.
The company blames high inflation and interest rates, poor market conditions, and internal consolidation. Gautam Hari Singhania, Raymond’s chairman and managing director, told just-style that the company has focused on “improving the operational efficiencies through supply chain management initiatives, cost rationalization and consolidation of apparel business operations.”
These improvements, Singhania explained, has improved cash flows, but resulted in a “pullback of profitability.”
Net sales were actually up 12%, and in the fourth quarter, adjusted pre-tax profits were significantly up when compared to the fourth quarter ending March 2012.