TTK Prestige to double outlets in a year

February 02, 2011 | DNA India | Mumbai

TTK Prestige, the Bangalore-based pressure cooker and kitchen appliance-maker, plans to take the number of its exclusive retail outlets from 275 to 500 by the end of next fiscal, said K Shankaran, director of corporate affairs. The outlets, named Prestige Smart Kitchen, are spread over nearly 160 tier-I and tier-II towns. They sell TTK’s entire brand range, which numbers over 300, and are franchisee-operated so the company does not have to spend on them. Other than pressure cookers and kitchen appliances, TTK makes non-stick cookware. They contribute 40%, 35% and 25%, respectively to its topline.

Shankaran said the composition might change owing to the pressure cooker market, valued at Rs10.0 BN ($226M) and of which TTK holds one-third, growing at just 40% compared to kitchen appliances’ 60%.

While the company is bullish on ramping up SmartKitchen, it is cautious on its other two retail stores, Prestige Kitchen Boutique and Prestige Lifestyle. Kitchen Boutique is for modular kitchens and there are currently nine outlets in Bangalore and Kochi.

Lifestyle, on the other hand, deals with high-end kitchen appliances and has two stores in Bangalore. “We have no expansion plans for them at the moment,” Shankaran said. He said the company, a leader in south India, is making inroads into the northern and eastern markets and has to tackle many unorganised players.

In the three months ended December 31, TTK continued its good run with its topline growing 61% over the same period last year to Rs 2,365M ($535M) and net profit almost doubling to Rs 293M (66.2M). TTK has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of over 25% since 2003 and hopes to better that this fiscal.

The firm has planned a spend of Rs 2,000M ($45.2M) over the next 18-20 months for expanding capacities at its Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand plants and setting up a new facility, probably in Gujarat. Aliasgar Shakir, analyst with Elara Capital wrote in a report dated January 20 that TTK intends to up the current annual capacity of 4.8 million cookers and 2.0 million cookwares to 8.0 million cookers and 4.5 million cookwares.

“We believe the large-scale opportunity in the sector and TTK’s past experience of aggressive growth provides assurance of future scalability,” the report said.

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