- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
WHILE the domestic market is expected to return to normalcy with the second Covid-19 wave receding and the festival season approaching, uncertainty caused by the pandemic still persists, Sanjay Lalbhai, chairman and managing director of textiles and garments major Arvind Ltd has said.
In an address to shareholders in the company’s Annual Report for 2020-21, Lalbhai said exports markets, including the United States, are poised to deliver a strong growth in the coming quarters and the overall demand growth is expected this year as retail and distribution pipelines are running low for inventory.
“As expected, FY2021 was a challenging year for our core textiles and apparel businesses. There was a sharp reduction in demand across all markets especially in the early part of the financial year,” he said.
“Many of the export markets started to resume. By the second quarter, several of our export customers had started placing orders, partly driven by their online demand,” he added.
Lalbhai said the domestic markets started witnessing a traction around Diwali. “Overall, the momentum picked up well in H2 and we wrapped up the year with a strong fourth quarter,” he said.
Speaking on the current fiscal, the Arvind Ltd chairman expressed optimism. “I believe that the US and our other export markets are poised to deliver strong growth in coming quarters. Domestic markets will also come back as the second wave of the pandemic recedes and the festival season comes closer,” he said, adding, “This year is likely to see growth in demand for us as retail and distribution pipelines are running low on inventory.”
He then added that the uncertainties caused by the pandemic are still there and one would continue to keep a watch on both opportunities and potential risks and take a balanced approach going forward.
“This risk managed approach will guide our day-to-day decisions as well as those related to capital allocation,” Lalbhai said.
In summary, he wrote, “While I don’t see the challenges facing your company and the world at large completely fade away in the next few days, I would like to assure you that we are well poised to take advantage of the opportunities that will unfold.”
