Q: Can you start of by detailing what kind of performance there was, particularly on the denim side both by way of volumes and realizations?

A: Our volumes were down by 20% but our realization compared to last year has gone up by 15%.

A: We do believe that a stronger kind of order book is likely to happen in Q2 and Q3, which we are experiencing because China is becoming increasingly competitive and we see a lot of demand coming towards India.

A: Yes, absolutely. We have renamed our company from Arvind Mills to Arvind Ltd and we have a brand new logo, which epitomizes the kind of change in the strategies and the visions that we have for the next ten years. We are rapidly going to grow in the branded apparel segment and apparel retailing through mega mart.

A: This is a unique situation, where the rupee has appreciated, cotton prices are at an all time high, the utility cost which is the coal based or gas based is amongst the highest because of the crude prices and the demand is sluggish because ever since the sub-prime crisis, America and Europe have slowed down. So this is the worst scenario in which we are operating. The good news is from here you can only have improvements. The improvements in either cotton price or utility cost.

One will have to wait and see how the commodity cycles play out. There are divided views. There is a view that there will be a meltdown in commodity prices because they are not sustainable. At the same time as land under cultivation is going to renewable energy there is likely to be lower cultivation of cotton in America. China has almost 60% market share in world trading textiles but the Chinese costs are going up faster than India. So that is a huge opportunity, which can change the scenario in Q3 and Q4.

Out export market has an average selling price of USD 2.80/meter and this is amongst the highest average price, Arvind Mills has seen ever since the existence of denim. Our sales realization is Rs 105 because the rupee has come down from 45 to 40 against the dollar but if one sees our price movement in dollar terms its amongst the highest, so there are some positives.

Q: You are also looking to unlock value through your non-strategic assets. What would that relate to? Are you talking specifically about the real estate properties and what kind of unlocking do you have in mind?

A: We want to unlock the non-strategic assets, which is predominantly land and we have appointed Ernst & Young for the same. They are working on the feasibility report as to what could be done with those land parcels. After putting a proper evaluation and looking as to what kind of value creation opportunities there are, we intend to scout around as to see how we can realize the best value and unlock this for putting it back into strategic businesses.

A: The assignment has been given to Ernst & Young, so we will be able to talk about this specific numbers and the roadmap ahead once the report is with us.

A: We believe that we have a portfolio of around Rs 700 crore of assets, which can be unlocked in a foreseeable future. It could be one-year, two-years or three-years. We also have to look at the timing. We do not want to sell at the wrong time, so we will have to see. Our estimation could be wrong so we need to wait for report from Ernst & Young to ascertain whether this is the correct number.