Samsonite says it grew 40 pc in first half of 2023; eyes Rs 3,600 crore sales by December

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Samsonite has grown close to 40 per cent in the first half of 2023 and it aims to touch Rs 3,600 crore sales by December, a top company official has said. Samsonite, having 35 per cent share in the Rs 15,000-crore domestic organised luggage market, leads the premium segment with its various products labelled with the original name as well as under the brand of American Tourister.

While its recent addition of Kamiliant brand competes with Safari and VIP in the value segment, American Tourister is positioned between Samsonite and Kamliant as a mass-premium brand. The company said it gets 20-25 per cent business from premium segment where it faces little competition.

Founded by Jesse Shwayder in 1910 in Colorado, Denver, the American parent Samsonite International is traded on the Hong Kong exchange which earlier in the day reported a USD 1.04 billion in gross profit for the first six months of 2023, up 47.5 per cent on-year. Its revenue climbed 44.5 per cent to USD 1.8 billion on the back of a 310 basis points rise in gross margins by 58.8 per cent.

The profitability was again led by Asia which is its most profitable region with a revenue of USD 694 million. Of the entire Indian luggage industry valued at around Rs 35,000 crore, a huge 60 per cent is led by unorganized players while the branded players including Samsonite, VIP and Safari contribute the rest 40 per cent, or Rs 15,000 crore of annual sales, according to a Crisil report.India and China have been swapping the ranking in volume terms since last year after the US which has been for long the largest market.

This year so far India leads with a 38.4 per cent growth in the first half, while China grew 99.6 per cent after a very bad 2022. «We hope to maintain the