Havells Plans To Expand Overseas Markets For Lloyd AC

Home-grown firm Havells, which owns appliances brand Lloyd, is planning to expand its export markets in the residential air-conditioner segment after doubling its production capacity, a top company official said on Tuesday.

The company has invested around Rs 400 crore so far in the first phase of its new manufacturing unit at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh, after which its capacity has gone over 2 million units per annum, Havells India Executive Director Yogesh Kumar Gupta said.

The company -- which is exporting room AC to market to 30 countries, including neighbouring SAARC and African nations -- has also started to ship units to the U.S. markets and now looking to expand beyond that, he added.

"We have big plans for international markets. We have put up our second plant in Sri city, which is very near to the Chennai port. We are already exporting to the Middle East, SAARC countries and African countries. We have also started exporting to the U.S."

"So, we have big plans for exports. We are looking at how can we expand to different countries, and we can be present in those countries with our products," Gupta told PTI.

When asked about the current contribution of exports in Lloyd's topline, Gupta said that is not very meaningful at this moment as the company did not have that kind of capacity.

"Earlier, we had only one plant, and that plant had the capacity to manufacture 10 lack ACs per annum, so we were focusing more on the domestic side. Our second plant is very important for us, it will help us to grow in India as well as abroad. So, now I think that time has come where we can look beyond boundaries," he said.

Besides, Havells, which reported double-digit volume growth in the domestic market here, is expecting a good performance this year.

Though Gupta did not share any projections for sales this year but said the season for AC sales has started on a positive note with growth from the Southern markets, where AC sales generally start from the middle of February.

Lloyds, which on Tuesday launched a new line of AC models in its portfolio, said with its expanded manufacturing capabilities, it is set to offer more than 120 models this season.

In the domestic market, Lloyds is the third-largest player in the residential AC segment.

Currently, the domestic value addition of Lloyds AC is around 80%, and the company plans to expand it further in the coming year as per its Make in India Vision.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2023, Lloyds' revenue was Rs 3,369 crore. However, it had reported a loss of Rs 221 crore.

In 2017, Havells India acquired Lloyd Electrical and Engineering Ltd from BR Punj Group for Rs 1,600 crore.

The Indian room AC market is estimated to be around 8 to 8.5 million units. The industry expects to have a good growth rate as the penetration level in Indian homes is still in single digits.