Aditya Birla Fashion may cross revenue goal by 2026: chairman

“We had projected a revenue of ₹21,000 crore for the year 2026 during our annual investor day held in March 2021. I am very confident that we will be able to surpass that target and set even higher milestones for the business going forward,” Birla said at the company’s 15th AGM on Monday.

ABFRL, which operates apparel brands such as Reebok, Van Heusen and Allen Solly in India, recently raised ₹2,195 crore from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC. The company said the money will support its growth in emerging areas such as ethnic wear, athleisure, and D2C.

Over the last few years, ABFRL has diversified its portfolio investing in homegrown labels; last fiscal year, it also picked up rights to sell sportswear brand Reebok in India.

“We followed up our first designer partnership with Shantanu & Nikhil by forging new alliances in FY21 with two of India’s most iconic designers—Tarun Tahiliani and Sabyasachi. Both these partnerships will further strengthen our presence in the luxury wedding and designer wear market. In FY22, your company also announced a tie-up with one of India’s youngest next-gen designers Masaba Gupta,” he said.

Through these acquisitions and partnerships, ABFRL now has one of the strongest and most comprehensive ethnic portfolios of brands in the Indian apparel industry and is now ready to expand exponentially, Birla added.

Birla also warned of global headwinds. In recent months, the war in Ukraine and looming fears of a global recession have posed macro headwinds. Birla said a tightness in energy markets and the fallout on energy security of some regions along with elevated energy prices have spurred a chain reaction, fueling inflationary impulses and volatility. ‘This has dented consumer confidence and dampened risk sentiment in financial markets,” he said.

However, he said India appears well-placed to navigate an uncertain global economic environment. “India has a robust pipeline of infrastructure projects. In addition, the government’s pragmatic policies such as the production-linked incentive schemes are helping. Many industries have witnessed fresh project investment announcements,” Birla added. He cautioned that while businesses need to be on guard regarding market volatility and cost pressures, one expects the economy to show medium-to-long term growth recovery.

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