Just jaw-key-ing. There, that’s how you’d say it. An expression of comfort that reflects your change of urge to be crazy, uninhibited, carefree, un-posey, cheeky even. We’re all for it. Go ahead, easier said than done.

A “BRIEF” ABOUT THE COMPANY

Just jockeying Sounds and feels familiar na? Well yes, I’m talking about one of India’s very popular brand for Innerwear/Leisurewear for Men and Women. The company behind getting the world renowned brand “JOCKEY^®” to India, Page Industries Ltd. was set up in 1994 by Genomal family.

The family had then been associated with JOCKEY International Inc. for 44 years as their sole licensee in the Philippines. Page Industries became a public company in March 2007 and is quoted in the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

Page Industries Ltd., located in Bangalore, India are the exclusive licensees of JOCKEY International Inc. (USA) for manufacture and distribution of the JOCKEY^® brand Innerwear/Leisurewear for Men and Women in India, Sri Lanka, Republic of Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal. Recently the contract has been extended for the next 20 years, i.e. till 2030.

CURRENT SCENARIO

As of the end 2008, the company employs over 6,000 people with manufacturing operations spread over three plants in Bangalore totaling 500,000 square feet of space. Page Industries commands wide spread pan India distribution encompassing over 16,000 retail outlets in 1,100 cities and towns and has revolutionized the innerwear market by launching exclusive JOCKEY^® outlets across India numbering 50 as of end 2008.

PEOPLE ON THE INSIDE

ACHIEVEMENTS TILL DATE…

® Awards:

In 2005 and 2009, the company was awarded the “best licensee of the year” by Jockey International Inc., as recognition for its outstanding achievement in establishing and strengthening the JOCKEY^® brand as a market leader in India.

® Adds New Geographies & Renewal of License till 2030

® In August 2008, Page Industries’ promoters, Genomal family and Jockey International USA celebrated their golden anniversary of association and both groups renewed their commitment to an even more exciting next 50 years. The new agreement will be for the next twenty years, extending through the year 2030 and will include additional countries, focusing on the Middle East.

FUTURE PLANS

® MORE JAW-KEY-ING!!!

New Sports and Leisure wear range for men and women

Jockey has become an aspirational brand overtime and has now evolved into a lifestyle brand. It is this aspect that has seen the company recently advance into the leisurewear segment for men and women with clothing that can double up as sleepwear, casual wear or gym wear under a sub-brand called Jockey Sport.

Jockey Sport can grow because it leverages the company’s core competence. There is synergy at the back-end because it uses the same technology used in creating innerwear. The leisurewear market is currently very fragmented in India, but is estimated to be about two-thirds of the Rs. 3,000 - crore men’s innerwear market.

3D-innovations^®

Jockey has just introduced ‘3D-innovations^®’, a new product category exclusively for men which takes the meaning of “Comfort” to a new level. This range is targeted to consumers who appreciate the benefits of innovation and technology.

® SETTING UP EXCLUSIVE RETAIL STORES OF JOCKEY

Page Industries will set up 28 more exclusive brand outlets through the franchisee model, taking the total number to 75 by 2010. It has a market leadership of about 21% in the mens Rs 1, 600-crore middle and premium innerwear segment but has a market share of 12-13 % in the Rs 650-crore women’s premium innerwear segment which is also being addressed by brands such as Lovable, Triumph and Enamor. The premium mens innerwear segment in India is growing at 28%.

First Jockey lifestyle boutique opened in Nagpur – Tapping Tier Two City

As part of this expansion, exclusive Jockey outlets will open in Pune, Ambala, Chandigarh over the next few weeks; and in Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore and Kota in Rajasthan over the coming months.

The international style exclusive boutiques carry the full range of Jockey inner wear and leisure wear.

FINANCIALS

Lets take a look at some of the fundamentals of the company. The company’s performance over the past 5 years has been spectacular (from the time it’s listed)

Its debt/net profit ratio, which tells us the number of years a company will take to repay the debt, is also very reasonable at 1.32 years. Its ROIC has also been very high at approximately 33% over the past 5 years.

Despite the downturn in the economy experienced by some sectors Page Industries’ performance has been good. In fact for the third quarter ended December 31 2008, its sales touched Rs.67.34 crores; registering a growth of 30% over the sales of the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Sale for nine months ended December 31 grew by 35% to Rs.198.25 crores and PAT amounted to Rs.26.08 crores for the nine months, registering a growth of 34%. The Board declared a third Interim Dividend of 40% and this along with two Interim Dividends already declared amounted to 140% for the year 2008 – 09.

Shareholding Pattern:

The total promoter holding in the company is quite high at 64% - another good indication!

LOOKING AHEAD

Page Industries Ltd. has recently launched the new “Just Jockeying” campaign for Jockey, positioning the brand as a fun, youthful lifestyle choice, to appeal and tap the free thinking mentality of today’s youth. And what an eye catching ad it is indeed!

The next thing about the company which caught my attention was that they are launching new products and segments like Jockey Sport and selling casual t-shirts and people are buying their products!. I felt compelled to come back and check the company behind jockey and checked its past performance. After a long time I felt compelled about writing a post. I’m completely convinced about the company, its brand and its policies, about everything. The company is opening up exclusive retail stores and is in an expansion mode even during a downturn!

I would love to hear views from experts and anyone interested in the company.

This article was written by Charu Gupta. She also writes at her own blog Charu’s Blog

Tags: Page Industries

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 8:07 pm and is filed under MoneyVidya Blogger Network. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.