Nilkamal to invest Rs 140-cr for expanding @Home store network

Nilkamal Ltd, India's largest manufacturer of moulded furniture, plans to open around 40-50 stand-alone @Home stores in the next three-years and has earmarked an investment of Rs 140-crore for the purpose, a top company official said.

Presently, the company has 15-stores which it plans to scale-up to around 65 by 2012-13, the official said.

"We are planning to invest more in our home furnishing business as the segment is doing well. We will invest around Rs 3.5-crore per store," Nilkamal's director, Manish Parekh, said here.

The @Home retail venture, which the company entered two years back, is expected to break-even in the next two years, Parekh added.

"We plan to open at least 2-3-stores by this year-end," he said.

Besides expanding its footprint nationally, the company will also give a strong thrust to its lighting and home furnishing business, he said.

Nilkamal clocked a turnover of Rs 1,000-crore last fiscal with @Home contributing around Rs 127-crore.

"This fiscal, we expect to cross the Rs 1,000-crore mark. @Home's contribution too should increase to over Rs 140-crore, Parekh said.

Asked how the expansion would be funded, Parekh said, that it would be entirely through internal accruals.

"Currently, our plan is to fund our expansion through internal accruals. If necessary, we will look at other options like debt later," he said.

The company also plans to introduce new products and has lined-up some exclusive designs of furniture and cupboards for children, bathroom products, office furniture and other home furniture for launch, he said.

"Our aim is to make @Home cater to every requirement of the customer," he said.

With @Home stores present in all major cities, the company is now targetting Tier II and III cities in the North and East, he said.