ITV

Category: Brands

  • Allen Solly targets to become Rs 1,000 crore brand by FY16

    Allen Solly targets to become Rs 1,000 crore brand by FY16

    KOLKATA: Allen Solly, part of Aditya Birla Group’s Madura Fashions, aims to be a Rs 1,000 crore brand by the end of next fiscal FY2015-16. 

     

    “In FY15, we are looking at Rs 800 crore topline from Rs 550 crore in the previous year,” Allen Solly COO Sooraj Bhat, said in Kolkata.

     

    Allen Solly ranks third in terms of revenue among the seven to eight brands that the company owns in fashion and lifestyle segment, he further said, when asked about the position of the brand Allen Solly in the whole kitty.

     

    Bhat said the new sub-brand Solly Sport had partnered with Wimbledon for exclusive marketing casual-wear line. He added that in FY15 the brand is expected to generate Rs 40 crore revenue and over the next three years it will expand to touch Rs 200 crore.

     

    The company said that it will not resort to discounts and bargains to push volumes, adding that online accounts for just four per cent of topline. 

     

    The company has 207 exclusive stores and proposes to add 50-odd stores in the next year.

  • Promodome bags Campus Shoes account; appoints Varun Dhawan as brand ambassador

    Promodome bags Campus Shoes account; appoints Varun Dhawan as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Promodome Communciations has bagged the account of Campus Shoes, the casual footwear brand from the Action Shoes group. 

     

    The group was looking to bolster Campus, and was looking for an agency to inject freshness into the brand through a new campaign led by a young brand ambassador. The client zeroed in on Promodome, which managed to sign on actor Varun Dhawan as brand ambassador.

     

    The print campaign with Dhawan has been released, and the TVC shall soon be seen on various channels as well in cinema halls and various activations/events planned all over India.

     

    The new line for the brand is – ‘We live in a campus called life’. 

     

    Promodome CEO Rajshekhar Malaviya said, “The intent behind this new line is the rising aspirations of youth, who believes that the limitations of yesterday can and will be challenged.”

     

    The agency has had a long association with the Action Shoes group, having done another celebrity led campaign for the brand a couple of years ago, with Emran Hashmi and Neha Dhupia as brand ambassadors.

  • Q3-2015: Tata Global Beverages q-o-q marketing spends up 6.3 per cent

    Q3-2015: Tata Global Beverages q-o-q marketing spends up 6.3 per cent

    BENGALURU: Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL) spent Rs 377.06 crore (17.6 per cent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) towards advertising and sales promotion (ASP) during the quarter ended 31 December, 2014 (Q3-2015), which was 6.3 per cent more than the Rs 354.80 crore (17.5 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter, but 5.9 per cent lower than the Rs 400.71 crore (19.3 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014.

    ASP for the nine month period ended 31 December, 2015 (9M-2015) at Rs 1017.66 crore (18.2 per cent of TIO) was 3.5 per cent lower than the Rs 1054.75 crore (19.7 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014. TGBL is the unifying entity of the Tata Group’s beverages interests under one umbrella.

    Note: Rs.1 crore = Rs.100 Lakhs = Rs.10 million = Rs.100,00,000

    TGBL’s Q3-2014 ASP was the highest in absolute rupees as well as in terms of percentage of TIO (19.3 per cent) during a 11 quarter period starting Q1-2013 until Q3-2015. During this eleven quarter period, ASP shows an upwards linear trend in absolute rupee spends, while the linear trend in terms of ASP as percentage of TIO is almost flat with a slight upward inclination. (Please refer to Chart A below.)

    During this period, the lowest ASP in absolute rupees was in Q1-2013 at Rs 280.56 crore (16.3 per cent of TIO) and lowest ASP in terms of percentage of TIO was in Q1-2015 at 14.9 per cent (Rs 285.80 crore). The simple average ASP percentage of TIO during the period under consideration is 18.7 per cent.

    For Q3-2015, TGBL reported Profit after Tax (PAT) of Rs 84.94 crore (four per cent of TIO), which was 35.9 per cent more than the Rs 62.45 crore (3.1 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015, but 29 per cent less than the Rs 119.55 crore (5.7 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015. For 9M-2015, PAT at Rs 243.92 crore (four per cent of TIO) was 40.7 per cent lower than the Rs 411.21 crore (7.1 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014. During the eleven quarter period under consideration, PAT was highest both in terms of percentage of TIO as well as in absolute rupees at 9.3 per cent of TIO and Rs 180.03 crore.

    PAT shows a downward linear trend in absolute rupees as well as percentage of TIO during the eleven quarter period in this report. (Please refer to Chart B below.)

    Cart C below shows the company’s TIO, total expenditure (TE), PAT and ASP in HY-13, HY-14 and HY-15; in 9M-13, 9M-14 and 9M-15 and in FY-12, FY-13 and FY-14.

    During Q3-2015, TGBL’s TIO at Rs 2143.89 crore was six per cent more than the Rs 2021.70 crore in Q2-2015 and three per cent more than the Rs 2080.74 crore in Q3-2014. For 9M-2015, TIO at Rs 6078.70 crore was 4.3 per cent more than the Rs 5827.68 crore in 9M-2014.

    TGBL, in its earning release for Q3-2015, says that it continues to strengthen its focus on the green tea category and grow its coffee and water businesses. In India, the company says that it retains market leadership in branded tea and has recorded its highest ever monthly production in December 2014. There is exponential growth in the green tea segment. Tata Global Beverages has a portfolio of green tea brands across consumer segments in India, with Tetley Green Tea and Tata Tea Acti Green.

    TGBL claims that in the water segment, Tata Water Plus- India’s first nutrient water, Tata Gluco Plus, available in five flavours and Himalayan natural mineral water, which recently launched a sparkling variant, are seeing good market response and focusing on expanding reach.

    Tata Starbucks, a joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks, now has 65 stores spread across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. The stores continue to witness very good customer response. Eight O’ Clock coffee K cups in the USA, are making good progress in the fast growing pods market.

    TGBL managing director and CEO Ajoy Misra said, “We will focus on growing segments such as green tea, specialty teas, functional water and pods while continuing to strengthen our core markets & brands, based on key consumer trends. We remain committed to sustainable growth through innovation and strengthening our brands in key markets, in the face of a challenging market environment and economic volatility in some parts of the world.”

  • Hatchback car models zoom ahead of SUVs & sedans on TV news: Esha Media Research

    Hatchback car models zoom ahead of SUVs & sedans on TV news: Esha Media Research

    KOLKATA: Hatchback car models occupied more news space on television at 18.5 per cent out of the 99 hour coverage put together on business, general and regional television channels in the month of January 2015, as per media monitoring agency Esha Media Research.

     

    The study conducted by Esha Media further finds that SUVs and sedans occupied 16 per cent and 15 per cent respectively out of the total coverage for the month. 

     

    Among the auto companies, Maruti accounted for 10 per cent of the coverage followed by Mercedes and Tata Motors at seven per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively.

     

    Segment-wise, Maruti led the coverage in hatchback model followed by Nissan, while in the SUV segment, Volvo was ahead of Mahindra. In the sedan segment, Mercedes led the coverage with 4.78 per cent followed by Audi at 2.9 per cent.

     

    Talking on the news trend, Esha Media Research managing director RS Iyer said the data indicates that business news channels accounted for 88 per cent of the total news coverage of 99 hours across all channels while the general and regional news channels accounted for the rest. “We intend to capture key data across several industry verticals and provide them with an invaluable analytical tool for their in-house and outsource PR professionals,” he said.

     

    Though Ford Motors did not figure in any of the segment from news coverage, the company’s executive director Don Butler appeared the most with 1.20 hours of coverage followed by Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto and Mayank Parekh of Tata Motors with 1.16 hours and 1.13 hours respectively, the report further illustrates.

     

    Among auto experts, Tutu Dhawan held 98 per cent of pie leaving Dilip Desai and Bertrand far behind, while Adil Jal Darukhanawala was marginally ahead of Hormard Sorabjee in the anchor segment.

  • PVR opens four-screen multiplex in Hubli

    PVR opens four-screen multiplex in Hubli

    MUMBAI: Theatre chain PVR Cinemas has opened a new four-screen multiplex in Hubli, Karnataka, taking its total screens in the state to 51 across its seven properties.

     

    The new theatre has a distinct design and is equipped with 2K digital projections, 7.1 channel sound and is 3D enabled with large screens, comfortable seating and a wide range of food and beverages.

     

    “We look forward to entertaining a wide spectrum of audiences by offering them more comfort and convenience, greater engagement and loyalty, premium sight and sound and a variety of movies with targeted programming,” said PVR CEO Gautam Dutta.

     

    PVR joint chairman-managing director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli added, “PVR taps the tier-II and tier-III cities as well and envisions providing the people of Hubli with the best.”

     

    PVR launched its multiplex in Hubli with an aim to target the twin cities of Hubli- Dharwad, which hosts over three lakh students. Moreover, the city is also emerging as an educational and industrial hub of the country.

     

    With this launch, PVR now operates 462 screens in 104 properties in 44 cities across India.

  • Anchor investors invest Rs 60 crore in Adlabs Entertainment; initial response to issue cold

    Anchor investors invest Rs 60 crore in Adlabs Entertainment; initial response to issue cold

    BENGALURU: Yesterday, a day before its IPO opened, anchor investors put in Rs 60 crore for the approximately Rs 470 crore Adlabs Entertainment IPO. Anchor investors – hedge fund under Edelweiss, mutual funds under Axis, L&T Fin, HDFC AMC and a fund under Daiwa brought in at the lower end of the Rs 221-230 price band.

     

    Note: 100,00,000 =100 lakh = 10 million =  1 crore

     

    The breakup of the anchor investor allotment is:

     

    5,21,495 equity shares to Japan Trustee Services Bank A/C Japan Trustee Services Bank, STB Daiwa India Stock Active Mother Fund; 4,34,850 shares to HDFC Trustee Company Limited – HDFC Infrastructure Fund; 2,17,425 shares to Axis Mutual Fund Trustee – A/C Axis Mutual Fund A/C Axis Midcap Fund; 2,17,360 shares to Axis Mutual Fund Trustee – A/C Axis Mutual Fund A/C Axis Smallcap Fund; 4,52,530 shares to L&T Mutual Fund Trustee – L&T Equity Fund; 2,26,265 shares to L&T Mutual Fund Trustee – L&T India Special Situations Fund; 6,52,210 Shares to IL&FS Trust Company – Forefront Alternative Investment Trust – Forefront Alternative Equity Scheme.

     

    The overall issue, including the anchor allotment portion, comprises 2.003 crore shares of which around a tenth is through an offer for sale by the promoters. Post the anchor investor allotment, Adlabs Entertainment has offered 1.76 crore shares to the public. The subscription period of the IPO is 10-12 March.

     

    Day one today saw a poor response according to a report published in VC Circle, with just under three per cent subscription. The issue saw zero participation from institutional investors on the first day with HNIs & corporates bidding for seven per cent of their portion and retail investors pitching in with almost a similar participation for the shares reserved for them says the report.

     

    As mentioned earlier, Adlabs Entertainment, the company that owns and operates Imagica-The Theme Park had proposed to open a public issue of up to 20,326,227 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 including a share premium per equity share on 10 March. 

     

    The company has fixed the price band from Rs 221-230 per equity share. The issue comprises a fresh issue of 18,326,227 equity shares and an offer of sale of 2,000,000 equity shares by Thrill Park Limited. The minimum bid lot is 65 equity shares and in multiples of 65 equity shares thereafter.

     

    The issue constitutes 25.44 per cent of the post-issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. Adlabs Entertainment, in consultation with the Global Co-ordinators and Lead Managers, will offer a discount of Rs 12 on the issue price to retail individual bidders. 

     

    The issue is being made through the Book Building process wherein at least 75 per cent of the issue shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB), provided that the company and the selling shareholder may allocate up to 60 per cent of the QIB Potion to Anchor Investors on a discretionary basis. Anchor investors could bid on Anchor Investor Bidding Date, that is 9 March. 

     

    The money raised through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) will be used for partial repayment/pre-payment of loans. As per the company, it currently is under a debt of Rs 1100 crore, and hopes to repay close to Rs 330-350 crore through the IPO.

  • PVR launches new multiplex in Bengaluru

    PVR launches new multiplex in Bengaluru

    MUMBAI: PVR has opened a new multiplex at MSR Regaliaa Elements Mall in Bengaluru.

     

    The seven screen multiplex enabled with state of art technology, 3D technology with 7.1 channel sound, plush interiors and a wide range of F&B, became operational today (9 March, 2015).

     

    With the opening of this multiplex, PVR’s total screens count has gone up to 469 at 105 locations across 44 cities in 14 States and 1 Union Territory.

  • Adlabs Entertainment takes IPO route to repay partial debt

    Adlabs Entertainment takes IPO route to repay partial debt

    MUMBAI: Adlabs Entertainment, the company that owns and operates Imagica-The Theme Park has proposed to open a public issue of up to 20,326,227 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 including a share premium per equity share on 10 March. 

     

    The company has fixed the price band from Rs 221-230 per equity share. The issue comprises a fresh issue of 18,326,227 equity shares and an offer of sale of 2,000,000 equity shares by Thrill Park Limited. The bid/issue will close on 12 March. The minimum bid lot is 65 equity shares and in multiples of 65 equity shares thereafter.

     

    The issue constitutes 25.44 per cent of the post-issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. Adlabs Entertainment, in consultation with the Global Co-ordinators and Lead Managers, will offer a discount of Rs 12 on the issue price to retail individual bidders. 

     

    The issue is being made through the Book Building process wherein at least 75 per cent of the issue shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB), provided that the company and the selling shareholder may allocate up to 60 per cent of the QIB Potion to Anchor Investors on a discretionary basis. Anchor investors can bid on Anchor Investor Bidding Date, that is 9 March. 

     

    The money raised through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) will be used for partial repayment/pre-payment of loans. As per the company, it currently is under a debt of Rs 1100 crore, and hopes to repay close to Rs 330-350 crore through the IPO.

     

    Talking about further plans, Adlabs Entertainment chairman and managing director Manmohan Shetty said, “While the money raised through the IPO will be used for repayment of partial debt. We plan to increase our employee strength from the current 1500 to 2000 by this year end. Not only this, we are planning to open another Imagica in South or North. But, the money raised right now will not be used forfuture plans.”

     

    For the six months ended 30 September 2014, the company’s total income and loss after tax was Rs 73.325 crore and Rs 53.529 crore respectively. Adlab’s revenue from sale of admission tickets, from the F&B operations and retail and merchandise operations for six months ended 30 September, 2014 was Rs 55.382 crore, Rs 11.980 crore and 3.886 crore respectively. 

     

    The company will soon be launching its hotel chain as well. The first phase of the proposed 287 key hotel, to be called Novotel Imagica Khopoli, comprising 116 keys, is expected to be completed by March, 2015.

  • FY-2014: Broadcasting & digital segments drive 55% EPS growth for Gannett

    FY-2014: Broadcasting & digital segments drive 55% EPS growth for Gannett

    BENGALURU: Gannett Company Inc., (Gannett) reported a 55 per cent increase in its non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) and a 57 per cent increase in adjusted EBIDTA for the 13 weeks ended 28 December, 2014 (Q4-2014, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

     

    Earnings totalled $2.92 per share, and on a non-GAAP basis, EPS for Q4-2014 was $1.02. Gannett’s revenue grew 24.3 per cent driven by strong broadcast and digital segment results, says the company. Gannett reported revenue of $1700.97 million in the current quarter, for Q4-2013, the company had reported revenue of $1368.04 million.

     

    On a pro forma basis (had Gannett owned the Belo and London television stations and Cars.com during the same quarter last year and excluding the impact of the sale of a print business and Apartments.com), total company revenues were 4.2 per cent higher in the quarter due primarily to substantial revenue growth at the expanded television station portfolio and strong growth at Cars.com.

     

    Broadcast Segment

     

    Gannet’s broadcast segment revenue increased 117 per cent (went up 2.17 times) in Q4-2014 to $495.27 million as compared to the $228.21 million in Q4-2013. The increase was fuelled by the expansion of the TV station portfolio, as well as significant increases in politically related advertising and retransmission revenues. On a pro forma basis, Broadcasting segment revenues were up 25.0 per cent compared to the fourth quarter in 2013. Substantially higher retransmission revenue that totalled $94.3 million, a 56.3 per cent increase, as well as $92.4 million of political advertising drove the increase. Pro forma digital revenues in the Broadcasting Segment were 16.5 per cent higher reflecting primarily growth in digital marketing services products.

     

    Digital segment

     

    Digital segment increased 76.6 per cent to $345.35 million in the current quarter as compared to the $195.57 million in Q3-2013. Gannett says that the substantial increase reflects primarily the impact of the Classified Ventures acquisition and strong results at Cars.com. Revenues on a pro forma basis in the Digital Segment were up 9.7 per cent driven in large part by revenue growth of 24.8 per cent at Cars.com and 3.8 per cent at CareerBuilder.

     

    Publishing

     

    Publishing segment revenues on a pro forma basis declined 5.9 per cent reflecting primarily softer display advertising partially offset by an increase in digital marketing solutions revenue and digital advertising.

     

    Publishing advertising segment, publishing circulation segment and all other publishing segment revenues dropped 7.8, 2.2 and 9.9 per cent respectively in Q4-2014 as compared to the year ago quarter.

     

    Publishing Advertisement

     

    Publishing advertising revenues were: $543.80 million in Q4-2014 and 589.56 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. The company says that Pro forma advertising revenues declined 8.3 per cent year-over-year. On the same basis all domestic classified advertising category comparisons in the fourth quarter were better than third quarter comparisons. Employment advertising was up 1.5 per cent in the quarter maintaining its positive trend with growth domestically and at Newsquest in the UK.

     

    Publication Circulation segment

     

    Publishing circulation segment revenues were: $282 million in Q4-2014 and $288.43 million in Q4-2013. An increase in circulation revenue at local domestic publishing sites reflecting the beneficial impact of pricing strategies as well as continued strength of the All Access Content Subscription Model was offset by circulation revenue declines at Newsquest, due to the cycling of cover price increases, and USA Today.

     

    All other publishing

     

    All other publishing segment revenues were: $59.68 million in the current quarter and $66.27 million in the year ago quarter. Pro forma Publishing Segment digital revenues increased 2.9 per cent in the quarter reflecting continued growth in digital marketing solutions and digital advertising. Digital revenues at Newsquest were up 20.4 per cent in local currency while digital revenues at USA Today and its associated businesses increased 8.4 per cent. Pro forma digital advertising revenues at local domestic publishing operations were up 6.6 per cent.

     

    Company Speak

     

    Gannett president and chief executive officer Gracia Martore said, “Our strong fourth quarter results cap a milestone year for Gannett -reflecting our bold strategy and continued focus on reshaping and reinventing the company to accelerate growth in today’s multiplatform media landscape. Based on our strong operating performance and balance sheet strength, we are resuming our share buyback program, well ahead of the timeline we had previously anticipated. Our broader and more diverse footprint drove record revenue in Broadcasting for the fourth consecutive quarter and resulted in our highest political revenues ever in a non-presidential election year. We also posted record-breaking Digital Segment revenues, driven by our full ownership of Cars.com, which had a terrific quarter, as well as continued growth at CareerBuilder. On the Publishing side, we continue to innovate and find ways to deepen our connections with our audiences and advertisers through initiatives like USA Today local content editions, which have delighted customers and substantially exceeded our revenue expectations. Even as we achieved this tremendous revenue growth, we remain committed to operating as efficiently as possible, which has continued to improve profitability, including a 57 per cent increase in Adjusted EBITDA as compared to the fourth quarter last year.”

     

    Martore added, “The terrific progress we’ve made across each of our businesses since the launch of our transformation plan three years ago culminated in our biggest news of 2014 – the announcement of our plan to separate into two highly focused public companies. Each company will be a leader in its respective industry with impressive scale and greater freedom to focus its strategy and resources on the most promising, value-enhancing areas of the business. We are on track with the separation and will share more details of our plans for the Publishing and Broadcasting/Digital companies in the coming months.”

     

    FY-2014 Numbers in Brief 

     

    Total operating revenues for the full year were 16.4 per cent higher compared to 2013 and totalled $6.01 billion. The increase reflects substantially higher revenue growth in the Broadcasting and Digital Segments to record levels partially offset by a decline in the Publishing Segment. Broadcasting Segment revenues were 102.6 per cent higher due to the Belo acquisition and significant increases in Olympic and political spending as well as retransmission revenue. Digital Segment revenues in 2014 were up 22.8 per cent reflecting the acquisition of Classified Ventures including strong growth at Cars.com and solid revenue growth at CareerBuilder. Company-wide digital revenues totalled $2.05 billion, an increase of 7.4 per cent on a pro forma basis compared to 2013. Publishing Segment revenues were 4.4 per cent lower as advertising revenues declined 5.8 per cent and circulation revenues were down 0.9 per cent.

  • Amul to invest Rs 250 crore in Sankrail food park in West Bengal

    Amul to invest Rs 250 crore in Sankrail food park in West Bengal

    KOLKATA: Amul-owned Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation is planning to set up a Rs 250 crore dairy processing plant at Sankrail in West Bengal.

     

    Additionally, Amul has planned an investment of Rs 5,000-crore for expansion of its own milk processing capacities in the next two to three years.

     

    “The new modern plant at Sankrail food park will cost us Rs 250 crore with optimum processing capacity of 15 lakh litres per day,” Amul managing director RS Sodhi said.

     

    The plant, which will come up on 16 acres of land at the food park, is expected to be operational in the next 15 months.

     

    Amul will be manufacturing fresh milk products, ice cream and beverages in the plant, Sodhi said.

     

    “Currently, Amul operates three plants in Kolkata on contractual basis with a total processing capacity of 7,25,000 litres of milk per day,” Sodhi said. “Milk collection for Kolkata and adjoining markets would be increased from local farmers, which accounts for just one-third of its milk requirement,” he added.

     

    Makers of Amul branded milk and dairy products will establish 10 new processing units in different regions of the country, he said talking about the company’s national plan.

     

    In tune with global milk price crash this fiscal, the milk prices in the country remained depressed. When being asked about the probable price hike, he said, “We have had our last price hike in May last year. This year prices may rise by around five per cent in tandem with inflation.”