The Hindu Business Line : Philips India aims 100 pc growth in 5 yrs

The HTP unit near Pune, which made products with applications in automotive, electronics and electrical goods, contributed less than 3 per cent to the company's turnover.

Bangalore , April 1

PHILIPS India proposes to sell one of its units, High Tech Plastics (HTP), as part of its overall emphasis on its core business. The proposal, which received the company's board of directors' approval recently, will be put before the shareholders for their consent at its annual general meeting to be held on April 23.

The lighting and electronics major had undertaken an exercise in the last two to three years to `reshape' its business to aim for an overall turnover of Rs 5,000 crore by 2008. The company's turnover during 2003 was close to Rs 2,000 crore.

The HTP unit near Pune, which made products with applications in automotive, electronics and electrical goods, contributed less than 3 per cent to the company's overall turnover.

Besides, the proportion of business from internal customers had also reduced significantly in the last few years.

The company also undertook revamping some of its operations to improve productivity, rationalise product portfolios and manpower strength in the last three years to strengthen its core areas of lighting, domestic appliances and consumer electronics. Besides, it will also be leveraging on increased demand for its medical electronics, said Mr K. Ramachandran, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Philips Indian Ltd.

In an informal chat with presspersons on the company's outlook and the measures taken to strengthen its strong brand value, Mr Ramachandran said Philips India hopes to expand its domestic appliances such as mixie grinder, iron box to a Rs 200 crore business in the next five years, a jump of more than 100 per cent from the current turnover of Rs 75 crore. Similar growth was expected for its other core products.

He said that though there were no definite plans to make fresh investments in India, he saw a potential to spend $150 million in the next five years, when the company was expected to achieve faster growth.

His optimism for the company's faster growth stemmed from strong brand `Philips,' which in its 75 years has entrenched in the Indian consumers' psyche.

He said to retain its brand loyalty on a sustained basis, the company would leverage its strong research and development and the software support to provide quality products at affordable price to customers.

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