S Surya Narayanan, a chartered accountant, was appointed the managing director of Celebrity Fashions Ltd (CFL), following the demerger of the company’s Indian Terrain brand as another listed company, Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd (ITFL).
After starting his career in Harita Finance, a non-banking finance company under the TVS Group in 1988, he joined CFL as general manager (finance) in 1996 and held various responsibilities in the company. Since October 2010, he was CFL’s group financial advisor.
The immediate challenge for him would be to turn the company around, at a time when its textiles business is not doing very well. The company has a debt of Rs 170 crore.
The immediate plans of the company are to look at improving efficiency, better business mix and adding better margin to customers. With four plants under CFL, the company is not looking at capacity expansion at present. “We have to do some financial structuring and are planning to borrow in foreign currency, to reduce our interest cost. We need to get more time, as our earning has to be in alignment with repayment obligations to our banks,” Narayanan says.
