Crompton Greaves eyes inorganic growth opportunities to enter more product segments

Appliances maker Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals is looking at inorganic growth opportunities and is engaged in discussions for the same as it looks to enter more product segments. The company, which is present in various segments, including fans, mixer grinders and pumps, said it is looking at entering more product categories where it can become a meaningful player.

“We are looking, obviously, and have been looking at inorganic opportunities which can help enable this…We are actively engaged in those kinds of discussions,” Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Managing Director Shantanu Khosla told analysts in an earnings call.

Khosla said the company is actively pursuing inorganic growth opportunities to be able to deliver against the strategy of being present in more and more segments, but with a proposition which can get the company to a meaningful market leadership position.

“What we look at is enter subcategories or segments where we have the opportunity to not just become a small player but become a number two player. The reason we say that is because it is really the number one, two or three player in every category who creates value,” Khosla said.

He said the company has a competitive strength of its balance sheet right now and “there may be people who do not have that balance sheet strength which may provide opportunities during this period”.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals had reported a 38.90 per cent decline in its consolidated profit at Rs 74.80 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, on account of lower income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 122.44 crore in the same period a year ago. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals’ total income for the quarter under review stood at Rs 738.68 crore as against Rs 1,364.14 crore in the same quarter a year ago, a drop of 45.85 per cent.

Khosla said COVID-19 had a significant adverse impact on the company’s volumes because of lockdowns.