Emami Ltd plans to open offices and appoint sales teams in Bangladesh, Egypt, the UK, Africa and Dubai.
According to Mr N.H. Bhansali, chief executive officer, finance, strategy and business development, Emami, the company is currently marketing healthcare and personal care products in these markets primarily through distributors.
“Our main exposure to these markets is through distributors. We are now looking at increasing our penetration in these markets by strengthening our own infrastructure and building an efficient marketing team,” Mr Bhansali told
International business currently accounts for about 13 per cent of Emami's total turnover.
“The business, which witnessed a growth of about 12.9 per cent in 2011-12, is set to grow by 25 per cent on a year-on-year basis once we put these strategies in place,” he said.
The company is in the process of setting up manufacturing units in Bangladesh and Egypt to cater to the growing demand in these markets.
African markets
The company is also in the process of restructuring its business in African markets.
“The political situation in some of the African countries and the volatile foreign currency has made marketing of low margin products in markets like Kenya, Angola, Morocco, Algeria and Libya difficult. So we plan to go slow on sales of low margin products in these markets,” he said.
Riding on the back of higher sales from its power brands such as Navratna Oil, Zandu Balm, Fair and Handsome and Menthoplus Balm, Emami posted 31 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 72 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, as compared with Rs 55 crore same period last year.
Net sales grew by 15 per cent to Rs 404 crore.
The shares of Emami closed at Rs 439.10, down by 0.98 per cent, on the BSE on Tuesday. The company has announced dividend of Rs 4 a share and a special dividend of another Rs 4 a share for 2011-12.
During the period under review, Emami transferred a foreign exchange loss of Rs 54.57 lakh chargeable to profit and loss account to the “foreign currency monetary item translation difference account” according to Accounting Standard 11.
On a sequential basis, however, net profit dropped by 23 per cent from Rs 94 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2011.
Net profit for the year ended March 31, 2012, grew by 13 per cent to Rs 259 crore.