SB&T Intl bags ISS order for jewellery exports to US

Jewellery manufacturer and exporter SB&T International has bagged an order from the International Shopping Source, Inc, (ISS) in the US to outsource jewellery from India.

The ISS and SB&T intend to enter into a strategic alliance through which SB&T would become a primary worldwide supplier of gem-set jewellery to the ISS, as well as have the first right of refusal to manufacture gem-set jewellery for ISS sourced in India from its newly enhanced facilities at SEEPZ, Mumbai.

"The agreement would add $25-30 million to the company's topline, and we would be looking at a profit of over 11 per cent," said Varij Sethi, managing director, SB&T International.

The company is also expecting a recurring annual turnover of $75 million per year from 2007 onwards with a thrust on its overseas ventures.

"ISS will sell the jewellery sourced from SB&T through television. This is a unique method adopted to sell the jewellery sourced from us," Sethi added.

By December, SB&T is also expected to increase its manufacturing facilities from the current size of 11,000 square feet to almost 40,000 square feet.

The company had recently joined hands with the UK jewellery retailer Gerald Ratner and formed SB&T (UK) to retail jewellery through the Internet, television and eventually wholesaling at high-street stores.

SB&T has already received orders to the tune of $1 million from three television shopping networks in the UK amounting to $350,000 and are also receiving repeat orders which would help it break into the UK market.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal, the company has reported almost flat sales at Rs 21.1 crore. There was, however, a marginal gain of four per cent in the net profit at Rs 1.9 crore.

In the last few months, the stock of SB&T International has spurted by over 100 per cent on the National Stock Exchange.