Vasanth & Co eyes Rs 400cr turnover

Vasanth and Co, a Chennai-based company engaged in selling TVs, air-conditioners and other household appliances, is eyeing a turnover of of Rs 400 crore this financial year. The company achieved a turnover of Rs 295 crore in the year 2005-06.

H Vasanthakumar, chairman and managing director, Vasanth group of companies, said the company was confident of touching the Rs 400 crore mark in the current financial year as it was maintaining a 25 per cent growth rate every year.

This apart, the company plans to add four new showrooms by the end of FYO7. "We plan to open branches at Kumbakonam, Sivakasi, Athur (near Salem) and a second one in Bangalore," he said.

Currently, it has 41 branches in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, including one in Bangalore, employing about 1,000 people. With the coming up of new showrooms, an additional 60 staff would be hired, Vasanthakumar said.

With regard to the Tamil Nadu government's scheme of distributing TV sets for free, he said it would not impact the sales as the government was planning to distribute only 14 inch TVs which are not the ones usually sought by customers.

Vasanthakumar ruled out any hire purchase scheme for customers adding that the company was not ready to venture into the risky business.

The company directly buys the products from original equipment manufactures so that it could pass on the price benefit to the customers, he said.

He hoped that the company would be able to sell more than 1.5 lakh TV sets this year.

The other products of the company included washing machines and refrigerators.