UPDATE 1-India Whirlpool sees $358 mln sales in 2006/07 http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-09-08T103726Z_01_DEL158316_RTRIDST_0_MANUFACTURING-INDIA-WHIRLPOOL-PICTURE.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
Fri Sep 8, 2006
NEW DELHI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Whirlpool of India Ltd. (WHIR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) aims to end a string of loss-making years in 2006/07 by heavily promoting its home appliances to Indian housewives, its managing director said on Friday.
The company expects to break even in the year ending March 2007 with a sales target of 16.5 billion rupees ($357.8 million), up 20 percent from the previous year, Arvind Uppal told reporters.
"We are aiming for profit next fiscal year (2007-08)," he said. The company, 83.3-percent-owned by Whirlpool Corp. (WHR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), has not posted a profit since 2002.
Uppal said Whirpool would include features in appliances that would appeal to housewives, such as a rack in fridges to store lipsticks away from the heat of the Indian summer.
Whirlpool would also spend 600 million rupees on advertising and promotions to coincide with the Hindu festival of Diwali in November, a time when Indians often buy major items.
Uppal said some of a previously announced $15-20 million of planned investment would go towards launching new products.
The rest would go into manufacturing and research facilities, though besides ruling out opening new sites he declined to give more details.
Whirlpool estimated India's total fridge and washing machine market at 45 billion rupees, of which it has about a fifth. It is aiming to lift its market share against its main rival, South Korea's LG Electronics Inc.
(066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research).
($1=46.12 rupees)
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