Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, May 21, 2003 |
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Marketing
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Brands Corporate - Announcements VLCC plans colour cosmetics foray — Open to strategic partners Ratna Bhushan
NEW DELHI, May 20 THE Indian colour cosmetics market, estimated at about Rs 250 crore, will soon see another entrant. The closely-held, Rs 60-crore health, fitness and beauty chain Curls & Curves (India) Ltd, which is the parent company of Vandana Luthra's Curls and Curves (VLCC) is planning a foray in this segment in the current calendar year, Mr Sandeep Ahuja, Senior Vice-President, CCIL, told Business Line. Dominant brands in this category include Lakme, Revlon and Maybelline. Other drawing board plans include introducing a men's line and creating a new brand to cater to a specific age group, Mr Ahuja said, though he declined to elaborate on the new ventures. In tune with its expansion plans, he said CCIL was open to strategic investors picking up equity stake in the company. Acquisitions, too, have not been ruled out. Currently, CCIL's salons account for the majority share of its revenues, the retail business and exports being fairly new ventures. According to industry estimates, the salon business in India is growing at about 20 per cent. According to Mr Ahuja, while exports to markets such as South Africa currently account for a marginal share of CCIL's revenues, exports has been identified as a focus area this fiscal. CCIL's foray in colour cosmetics is in line with the chain's retail venture, which it kicked off about eight months back. ``Our retail venture is a backward integration process. The company had set up a new division, Vandana Luthra Personal Care, early last year to manufacture personal care products to feed our own centres,'' Mr Ahuja said. About five months back, the company set up exclusive retail stores by the name of VLCC Beauty Shops to retail its products. CCIL proposes to expand these from three currently, to 20 this calendar year. These will be a mix of company-owned and franchised stores. The company's existing personal care line comprises skin-care and hair-care products. The skin-care market is estimated at roughly Rs 1,200 crore, and clocking growth figures of 18-20 per cent annually. CCIL, meanwhile, proposes to set up its second manufacturing base in Hardwar, the first one being in Gurgaon. Other ventures that the company has been talking about include VLCC Resource, VLCC Health Kitchens and VLCC Hair Studio. CCIL, which began operations back in 1989, now runs 52 fitness centres strong across 29 cities. The company has projected an Rs 100-crore sales turnover next fiscal, besides setting up centres in West Asia and Europe.
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