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"The $41-billion Aditya Birla Group is planning another round of corporate reorganisation to unlock value and beef up the balance sheet, after consolidating its garments business into a single entity last year according to market sources, media reports suggest."
The $41-billion Aditya Birla Group is planning another round of corporate reorganisation to unlock value and beef up the balance sheet, after consolidating its garments business into a single entity last year according to market sources, media reports suggest.
The merger of Grasim and parts of Aditya Birla Nuvo, which is likely to be followed by the hiving-off of the financial services business of AB Nuvo into a separate company may involve a part of this two-step restructuring process. Reports suggest, discussions are evolving and serious consideration is being given to the merger proposal.
One of the key motives behind this mega restructuring is to strengthen the balance sheet of Idea Cellular ahead of spectrum auction and the launch of Reliance Jio, which analysts expect will result in heightened competition and price wars.
Unlocking A B Nuvo’s value The boards of Grasim and AB Nuvo are scheduled to meet soon for quarterly results. However, a final announcement could be expected as early as this week. If the financial services are demerged from other businesses of AB Nuvo, it could unlock significant value for Nuvo's shareholders. Nearly two-thirds of AB Nuvo's revenues come from financial services. Investment bank JM Financial is one of the advisers for the restructuring, a source added.
The merger and the complete reorganisation could involve a number of steps. A direct merger of Nuvo and Grasim and the simultaneous spinning-off of financial services business into a separate company is among the options. The other option is to demerge the non-financial business of Nuvo, which includes carbon black and viscose filament yarn, into Grasim and turn Nuvo into a holding company for financial services, including life insurance. This will make it easier for the financial services business to secure a partner. Grasim's holding in the group company, UltraTech could also be spun off separately. With holdings in the group's financial services, telecom, fashion and lifestyle, and divisions of fertilisers, insulators, linen manufacturing and rayon, Aditya Birla Nuvo is positioned as a diversified conglomerate within the group.
The life insurance JV, Birla Sun Life Insurance is held independently under Nuvo as a separate venture. Nuvo also owns 23.3 per cent in Idea Cellular, the separately listed telecom venture, and 9 per cent in Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail as of the past financial year.
Grasim and Nuvo have Rs 2,424.73 crores and Rs 890.94 crore cash in hand, respectively as of FY16, as per ETIG database. Following its merger with Aditya Birla Chemicals last February, Grasim has been positioned as a conglomerate. Grasim also houses the viscose fiber and chemicals businesses. Most of its value is created by the cement business, which it derives from its 60 per cent stake in UltraTech. Grasim clocked total consolidated sales of Rs 36,217 crore and posted a net profit of Rs 2,359 crore in the last fiscal.
As much as 21 per cent of sales came from viscose fiber, 9.5 per cent from chemicals and the remaining from the cement business. While valuing the company, however analysts give only holding value to the cement business as Grasim holds shares of UltraTech and not the business.
While UltraTech gets a market capitalisation of Rs 1.05 lakh crore with past 12 months net profit of Rs 2,475 crore, Grasim is valued at only Rs 48,000 crore on past 12 months net profit of Rs 3,103 crore. The group's cement business was split between Indian Rayon (now Nuvo) and Grasim in the 1990s before it was shifted completely to Grasim which in turn got merged with Ultratech.
Around Rs 9,200 crore was from ABFS out of the total AB Nuvo revenues of Rs 14,700 crore last fiscal. If all the businesses of AB Nuvo are valued separately, analysts arrive at a figure of approximately Rs 25,000 crore with Rs 19,000 crore coming from financial services.
India's wool exports to the US and Europe are declining and to combat with this decline in exports India's wool industry is shifting focus to markets such as Kazakhstan, Germany, China and Australia. Exports dropped three per cent in 2015-16 and 17 per cent from April to June 2016.
Exports of wool and woolen products stood at Rs 3,012 crores in 2015-16 compared to Rs 3,112 crores a year ago. The decline is 9.4 per cent in dollar terms for the period. One reason for the decline in exports is global warming. This is reducing the severity of winter. During the last two winters, temperature drop in December and January was not significant.
Apart from changing climate, the rise in price of imported wool has heated up competition from Turkey, Thailand and Bangladesh for Indian exporters. The 30 to 35 per cent rise in price of imported wool this fiscal has squeezed margins for domestic players. While makers of premium fabrics and garments are able to absorb the price rise in imported wool, smaller players are losing business.
The wool industry want support in the form of increase in duty drawback rates, speedy release of drawback, abolition of import duty on raw wool, textile machinery and spare parts, and a special package to boost exports.
Wellington-based sustainable fashion brand Space Between has developed a solution to significantly reduce clothing and textile waste. It is now seeking funding to work with local designer Larissa Banks. The funds raised will go towards resourcing Banks, a Massey University design graduate, to collaborate with Space Between on developing its next range and looking at innovative ways to help businesses minimise their textile waste streams as commercial clothing waste is a big contributor to this problem.
A social enterprise, Space Between’s upcycled clothing line is manufactured using pre and post-consumer waste by a local not-for-profit company Earthlink Apparel, based in Lower Hutt that supports people with barriers to employment such as mental illness.
Keeping things local was an important factor for Space Between co-founders Jennifer Whitty and Holly McQuillan. The solution they have developed has the potential to change the way clothing is manufactured, bought, and worn, diverting waste from landfill and reducing carbon emissions.
Trident’s net revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2016, zoomed 31.6 per cent year over year. Trident is India’s leading home textiles producer. High traction was achieved in the home textiles segment as a result of sustained focus and efforts on marketing, designing and product innovation.
EBITDA too rose higher, at 24.1 per cent, to Rs. 247.1 crores in the first quarter of fiscal 2016-17 from Rs 199.1 crores in the comparable quarter of the prior fiscal. The home textiles manufacturer was able to reduce finance costs by 6.4 per cent. Healthy free cash flow generation led to prepayment of high cost debt at Rs 53.6 crores, while better working capital utilisation and the interest equalisation scheme reduced interest costs.
Profit after tax for the quarter under review amounted to Rs 78.5 crores, up 26.1 per cent vis-à-vis Rs 62.2 crores in the fiscal ago quarter. Incorporated in 1990, the company exports to over 100 countries. It’s the world's largest manufacturer of terry towels and has business interests in home textiles, yarn, paper and chemicals and energy.
Trident offers a variety of brands of terry towels and bed linen. It has the world’s largest terry towel plant, which is in Madhya Pradesh.
The Tamil Nadu government is introducing a slew of programs for the state’s textile sector. These include: increasing free power to handloom from 100 units to units 200 units a month and from 500 units to 700 units a month for the powerlooms.
Some of the initiatives being taken are unstinted support to private-public partnership in the form of textile parks and seeking additional Central assistance of around Rs 200 crores for upgrading 18 common effluent treatment plants in Tirupur, says Handloom and Textile minister O S Manian. Speaking at the inauguration of National Handloom Week, Manian recalled during her June 14 meet with prime minister Narendra Modi, chief minister Jayalalithaa had sought the Centre’s support for Tirupur effluent treatment project, additional funds to the tune of Rs 1,200 crores under the Technology Upgradation Front, initiatives for the welfare of those involved in the textile and handlooms industry were some of the points raised in that meeting.
In the next five years, textile major Raymond expects sales from the branded apparel division to grow four-fold from the current over Rs 1,000 crores and the fabrics business to double from around Rs 3,000 crores. This was revealed by Mohit Dhanjal, Director-Retail, Raymond who added the company is currently expanding its presence to new regions and launching new products using technology.
Dhanjal was speaking at the launch of its social initiative 'Look Good, Do Good' under which the company offers free stitching of trousers to those who bring old trousers. Currently, Raymond derives around 65 per cent of its business from fabrics and around 35 per cent from branded apparels. The growth would also come from new and renovated stores across the country.
Raymond, which unveiled around 70 stores in the last fiscal, plans to open around 100 stores in the current fiscal. This would include the ones in tier IV and V towns in India. The company operates around 715 Raymond stores in the country. Of these, around 660 are franchisees and its products also reach around 17,000 multi brand outlets in 380 towns and cities.
The Pakistani textiles industry that faces serious challenges regarding water and energy costs has a solution in hand to make the industry more globally competitive. It now plans to use of innovative enzyme solutions to reduce overall costs. To highlight the solutions within sustainable biochemistry, the Royal Danish Embassy, in collaboration with the global industry leader Novozymes is organising a series of seminars, business meetings and textile mill visits in Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi this week.
Speaking at the first seminar in Lahore, Jakob Rogild Jakobsen, Charge d' Affaires of the Royal Danish Embassy observed that Danish companies are known for their innovation and technically proven solutions to some of the key challenges being faced by industry in Pakistan. Together Danish and Pakistani companies can forge partnerships in variety of sectors to benefit from each other's competences.
In the area of textiles where textile industry of Pakistan is constantly faced with challenges of energy and water shortage as well as high cost of raw materials that directly hampers its competitiveness in the international market, sustainable technological solutions can support the industry in mitigating these challenges. Some of the solutions presented during the seminars showed that energy costs could be cut by 25 per cent, water consumption reduced by up to 75 per cent, processing temperatures reduced to 20°C and processes shortened by up to 90 minutes.
The Central Silk Board (CSB) has appointed noted sericulturist and weaver K M Hanumantharayappa as its new chairman for a period of three years. As the 25th chairman of the Board, Hanumantharayappa succeeds N S Bissegowda. Incidentally, Hanumantharayappa is a senior political leader from BJP and hails from Doddaballapura, a traditional silk weaving cluster in Karnataka.
Having served as the member to the Central Silk Board from 2000-2002, Hanumantharayappa is also the President of Karnataka State Nekarara Horata Samithi (weaver's association) and has also served as Chairman of Karnataka Silk Marketing Board (KSMB) of Karnataka government between 2010 and 2013. Hanumantharayappa was also awarded the Best Agriculturist Award by the Government of Karnataka earlier.
Paving way for the introduction of fixed-term employment in the textile and apparels sector, the Labour Ministry has notified changes in the rules of the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947. On August 4, the Ministry notified the changes in rules under which a fixed term workman will be considered at par with permanent workman in terms of working hours, wages, allowances and other statutory dues. These rules will be effective from the date of notification.
‘He shall also be eligible for all statutory benefits available to a permanent workman proportionately according to the period of service rendered by him even though his period of employment does not extend to the qualifying period of employment required in the statute,’ the notification read. However, badli or fixed term employment workman in apparel manufacturing sector shall not be entitled to any notice or pay in lieu thereof, if his services are terminated.
One may remember that on June 22 last, the Union cabinet had approved special package for employment generation and promotion of exports in textile and apparel sector that included reforms in the Employee Provident Fund Scheme, increase in overtime cap, introducing fixed-term employment, additional incentives for the garment sector besides enhancing the duty drawback coverage.
Jeanologia, will present ‘One Glass, One Garment’, the process that manages to minimize the use of water in jean finishing at Sourcing at Magic to be held in Las Vegas from August 14 to 17.
The leading Spanish company that develops sustainable solutions for textile industry has been driving the transformation of the textile industry towards sustainability. Sourcing at Magic is a one-of-a kind convergence of fashion’s global supply chain that connects established and emerging brands to an unparalleled network of manufacturers, materials, technology, logistic solutions and talent.
In collaboration with Sourcing at Magic, Jeanologia will offer advice to companies and brands who want to produce a more sustainable, efficient, automated and transparent way. Jeanologia has succeeded in reducing the amount of water needed to give the final look of jeans to a single glass when on average 70 liters of water are used.
The revolutionary new One Glass, One Garment finishing process is made possible by the efficient combination of Jeanologia technologies: laser, the ozone G2 and the nanobubbles eFlow, the latter being the integral ingredient which allows the reduction of jean finishing to a single glass of water.
The new sustainable process puts at the disposal of the industry get finishes like dark look and soft type rinse, authentic vintage finish due to the combination of the laser and the eflow. Moreover the natural used look, aged and dirty effects through the tinted with eFlow technology. The finishing possibilities with 'One Glass, One Garment' are endless.
In collaboration with Sourcing at Magic, Jeanologia will offer advice to companies and brands who want to produce a more sustainable, efficient, automated and transparent way.
Sourcing at Magic is held in Las Vegas in February and August every year at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
