Driven by growth of its household brands - Santoor and Yardley - Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting posted a 20 per cent year-on- year rise in its revenues during the second quarter of the current fiscal.

Yardley, which the company acquired in 2009, rose 56 per cent annually, while its home-grown brand Santoor rose 26 per cent during the same period.

“We have proved that an ‘old' brand can be changed to a ‘young' brand as seen in the case of Yardley,” Mr Vineet Agrawal, President, WCCL, told Business Line . Three main reasons for Yardley's growth, he said, were improved quality of advertising, increased distribution and focus on younger generation that helped change the brand image.

The company recorded revenues of Rs 800 crore for the quarter. Net profit stood at Rs 88.2 crore for the quarter, an increase of six per cent over same period last year.

The company is betting big on its deo segment that now contributes about 55 per cent to the India household business comprising brands such as Yardley, Santoor and Chandrika. During the last quarter, the company acquired Aramusk brand from VVF Ltd. “We are working on it and will launch it in three-six months,” he said.

Lighting business

Mr Agrawal is upbeat about the company's lighting business. LED sales in the last five months, he says, have equalled the sales of the entire last year. The segment is, thus, expected to grow 100 per cent this year.

Inflationary pressures forced the company to take a 13 per cent price increase during Q2 of the fiscal, but WCCL is yet to realise the full impact of this on its operating profits. “The cost increase was higher than the price increase and there was also a new phase of advertising that required some investment which has impacted margins,” he explained. Operating margins for the division stood at 11 per cent during the quarter.

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