Weston eyeing Rs 650 crore turnover by fiscal-end

Lucknow, Dec 14 (UNI) Noida-based Indian electronic goods major Weston is aiming at a turnover of Rs 650 crore by the fiscal-end.

Weston, which clocked Rs 400 crore turnover in 2005-06, is posting 20 per cent growth in colour TV sales against the industry rate of roughly 8 per cent.

''We are relying on re-building institutional sales and organised retail to achieve our targets. The company has tied up with Big Bazaar of Pantaloon to sell its products,'' Sunil Sethi, Senior VP (Sales and marketing), told UNI here.

He said almost 40 per cent of the colour TV sales in India were driven by replacement and upgradate, rather than first time purchase by households.

Mr Sethi ruled out setting up of exclusive showrooms in the next fiscal for brand building and augmenting sales.

The company owns an in-house R&D lab in China and has seven manufacturing units in Noida, DehraDun, Jammu and Mohali, besides 20 branches in the country.

''We have 300 Weston dealers, which we plan to up by 200 by the end of the financial year,'' he informed.

Mr Sethi was here last week to announce Weston's foray into product lines beyond its staple colour TV and DVD player portfolio.

The company launched microwave oven, home theatre system, besides a new range of DVD with LCD display and DVD recorder to compete with the MNCs and its bigger Indian peers.

Weston recently set up a new manufacturing unit at Noida with an investment of Rs six crore rupees to meet the deadline of supplying 0.9 million 14-inch colour TV sets to the Tamil Nadu government.

''Our company was awarded the contract after a global tender was floated by TN to provide colour TV sets to economically weakers sections of the society,'' he said addressing a news conference.

The company intends to complete the contract in flat 10 months starting January 2007.

The ISO 9002 company, is aiming for Sigma 6 certification in the next fiscal.

''The Indian economy is thriving and hungry for more success. In the next financial, we expect new product contribution of 20-30 per cent in Weston turnover,'' Mr Sethi noted.

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