Kalyan Jewellers aims to expand retail presence over next 5 years

Kalyan Jewellers has chalked out an aggressive expansion plan to double its retail stores to 250 in India and abroad as well as the turnover to Rs 25,000 crore over the next five years, its top official said.

The Kerala-based jeweller currently operates 100 stores in the country and 32 overseas with a turnover of Rs 10,500 crore in the 2017-18 fiscal year, its executive director Ramesh Kalyanaraman said.

"We are expanding our retail network aggressively. In this fiscal, we earmarked Rs 1,000 crore to open new stores. Already, Rs 600 crore has been spent to launch 10 stores in the first of this fiscal and the remaining Rs 400 crore will go towards adding 9-10 more stores by March 2019," he told PTI in an interview.

Kalyanaraman, who was here last week for the launch of its flagship store in north India, said the company invests about Rs 30-40 crore on an average to open a store. However, large and flagship stores require the huge investment of around Rs 100-200 crore.

On future expansion, he said the company is targeting to reach 250 stores in the next five years and investments will be met through internal accruals.

The company has no immediate plans to launch its initial public offer to raise funds, he added.

Asked whether its business has been impacted by the negativity around the jewellery sector, Kalyanaraman said, "We are 100 per cent retail company. We do not export jewellery and we source gold directly from local banks for our use. We do not trade in bullion also. So, there is zero impact."

He said that the company's turnover will grow by 10 per cent this fiscal to touch Rs 11,500 crore as against Rs 10,500 crore in the 2017-18 fiscal. Of which, overseas business contributes 20 per cent.

"In the next five years, our turnover should touch Rs 22,000-25,000 crore. There will be sales growth in existing stores and also from new stores to be opened," he added.

Elaborating on its business strategy, Kalyanaraman said that the company is "hyper-local" in nature and jewellery designs sold in each store keeps in mind the taste and traditions of the local region.

"Our designs in each store are different. For instance, a store in Punjab has more of polki based designs, while in Chennai it is pure gold-based. However, the flagship stores have the designs of almost all states," he said.

Gold jewellery contributes to 70 per cent to its sales, while the remaining 30 per cent is from studded including diamond jewellery, he added.

(With inputs from agencies.)