Dear Shareholder,
It is my privilege to present the annual report for FY24. Despite
global geopolitical uncertainties, the Indian economy has demonstrated remarkable
resilience and robust growth, solidifying its position as the fastest-growing major
economy. The story of Singer India over the past fiscal year is one of resilience,
adaptability, and triumph over challenges. In the face of unexpected setbacks, we chose to
confront these challenges head-on. We made significant investments in design and
development, strengthened our dealer partnerships, improved our product messaging, and
repositioned our AZZ Line in the market. Additionally, we introduced an industry- first
after-sales experience to enhance reliability and trust in our brand.
Looking forward, our focus will be on enhancing our product line with
superior, technologically advanced offerings, emphasizing value-driven sales, and
bolstering our e- commerce revenues. At Singer India, we recognize and deeply appreciate
the daily contributions of our team, who drive our company to new heights of success. To
cultivate a culture of excellence, we have implemented regular recognition programs to
celebrate achievements and inspire outstanding performance. Our future goals include
repositioning our products, creating innovative experiences, and infusing vibrancy into
our operations. India is poised to remain the fastest-growing economy among the G20
nations, with key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services driving this
growth. Our commitment to adapting, embracing change, and increasing investments in human
capital and technology, underscores our dedication to building a stronger and more
resilient India.
In closing, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our Board members for
their invaluable guidance and to our stakeholders for their unwavering support. Your trust
and confidence have fueled our determination to overcome obstacles and confidently pursue
continued growth and success.
Dear Shareholder,
SINGER is the world's number 1 brand in household sewing machine
segment, backed by a rich 170-year legacy in the sewing machine industry. SINGER, has
embarked on a significant journey in India, focussing on blend of tradition and
innovation, while staying true to its core business values, ethos and principals.
Looking ahead, under the Sewing Machine segment, we plan to focus on
bringing in machines which are high on functionality with advanced technology, refining
our product messaging, streamlining inventory management, optimising operations, and
fostering stronger stakeholder engagement.
With respect to the Home Appliances business, SINGER India will focus
on achieving profitable growth, backed by launching and focussing on profitable and
high-quality products.
We plan to offer high quality & premium products to command better
pricing & establish premium positioning in the consumer's mind.
SINGER India is placing heightened emphasis on key strategic
initiatives such as after-sales service to improve consumer engagement and post sales
experience. In Research and Development, we plan to introduce superior and technologically
advanced products across our key product lines.
Performance during the year - FY24
This past fiscal year has been a resounding success marked by
significant financial achievements. PBT before exceptional items grew by 65% Our PAT
(excluding exceptional items) also witnessed an increase of 51.2%.
Another significant improvement has been that our GM expansion across
categories, through better sales price realisation through superior price positioning,
cost optimisation and product mix improvement. Consequentially, the GM% improved from 22.0
% in 2022-23 to 24.9% in 2023-24.
We also controlled our service costs by stopping high failure products,
rationalizing workforce, and keeping strict control on sales return. We have also
initiated outsourcing of service for appliances to improve turnaround time. During the
year, service costs were reduced by 26.2%.
In our Home Appliances Business, our revenue was INR 117.2 crore, a
20.5% drop from the previous year's INR 147.5 crore. We focused on reducing the operating
loss, by discontinuing unprofitable products and related operating costs, and realigning
strategies to prioritise high-margin products and channels. This strategy resulted in
reduced revenue and operating losses for the year. Despite facing some key challenges,
like the cancellation of the Zig Zag sewing machine license by BIS and suspension of
supplies for certain products by the Canteen Store department, we saw improvement in our
profit margins.
This was due to growth in the Industrial sewing machine sale, Artisan
sewing machine categories, followed by a BIS approval to import through NOC, and the
resolution of CSD suspension.
Adopting Technology to Strengthen Stakeholder
Engagement
We understand that having a strong digital presence is crucial in
today's fastpaced and technology-driven world. We are adopting technology to strengthen
our engagement with our employees and customers alike. SINGER India does its digital
transformation efforts in house which entails developing and implementing strategies and
solutions within the organization itself, which are then extended to benefit the
customers.
SINGER Live Assist was launched after realizing that a huge gap exists
in providing quick product demonstrations and that most of the problems faced by our
consumers can be resolved very quickly virtually. This service has been launched to
provide real-time, virtual, face-to-face support for customers from the comfort of their
homes, especially for customers located in remote areas. So far, we have had a very
positive response from our consumers. We are now committed to setting new standards for
customer satisfaction by utilizing technology to provide live resolution and
demonstration.
We received the award for Best Use of Tech in Customer Service -
Durable at the 3rd Annual CX Excellence Awards 2024 for introducing SINGER Live Assist and
this award further strengthens our commitment to leveraging technology to create best in
class customer experiences.
We are investing in all our business verticals to improve scalability,
strengthen our security and improve our business performance. By prioritizing these
factors and investing in the right technologies and practices, we believe we can build and
maintain a world- class IT infrastructure that supports our business goals, drives
innovation, and delivers value to customers and stakeholders.
Our quarterly Townhalls with employees bring together teams from across
the country on a digital platform and we use the platform to share important updates,
recognise good performance and hear concerns and suggestion.
Our small steps are helping us to understand and accept technology and
assisting us to transform our legacy brand into a digital-savvy one. By embracing digital
transformation, we are confident of entering a stronger future.
Human Capital at our core
At SIL, we are convinced that nothing is more important than hiring and
developing the right human capital, as it's our people, who will give us the competitive
advantage and add strength to our goals. Significant efforts have been made to strengthen
the organisation culture and talent. With onboarding of Engineering excellence team,
various projects to create differentiated products have been kick started. We are making
efforts in becoming more gender inclusive company and are encouraging women to join our
teams across levels.
Some of our key functions like Legal & Compliance, HR &
Marketing are headed by women leaders.
I am pleased to share that we were awarded the prestigious “Great
Place to Work?” certification, a testament to our commitment to the highest
standards of culture and values. This recognition fuels our passion for building,
sustaining and celebrating a high- trust, high-performance culture, where everyone
thrives.
We have started a quarterly practise of awarding and recognising
performers at the Quarterly Townhalls. We conduct regular training and development
sessions to enhance the agility, motivation, and skills of our teams. This includes
specialised training for our customer-facing teams to ensure they provide excellent
service and effectively meet client needs.
To encourage performance based collaborative culture and to attract new
talent, many significant initiatives have been taken. Introduction of ESOP for senior
leadership, performance-based variable pay for other team members, are a few examples.
Delivering on ESG commitments
We are committed to sustainable business practices that drive growth
and excellence, while minimising our environmental footprint.
Our core values stitch together transparency, accountability and
collective growth in our journey, which encompass our teams, business partners, investors
and the communities we work with. We are investing in skill development programmes,
championing women's empowerment projects and collaborating with government initiatives to
uplift the underprivileged sections of society.
Innovation and Growth is the future for SINGER
India limited
We are poised for significant growth with a strategic expansion plan.
We are exploring the possibility of a second new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility
sometime in the near future.
The second unit will be for our AZZ line and will cater to global
markets as well as the Indian market, where we are expecting good growth.
Further as part of delighting our Indian customers, we are happy to
announce that we have plans to open a first- of-its-kind flagship experiential store in
Delhi. This innovative retail space will transcend the traditional store concept, offering
interactive product demonstrations and an immersive global experience that reflects SINGER
‘s rich heritage.
In the home appliance segment, we will be focusing on consolidation and
premiumisation, elevating our product
offerings to meet the evolving desires of discerning Indian consumers.
Another key highlight during the year has been our efforts towards
strengthening our dealer network and product positioning. We conducted a re-engagement
campaign, connecting with over 1,000 dealers across the country and we managed to
successfully reposition our Zig Zag machines in the market. We managed to do
demonstrations of our iconic Zig-Zag machines across various states, emphasising their
industryleading quality. This strategy enabled our dealers to not only recognise the
value proposition of our products, but also provided valuable feedback
that informed strategic price adjustments and product repositioning. This collaborative
approach focused on ‘value selling' and dealer engagement.
SINGER India is bringing in technologically advanced and global best
sellers to India. To support such launches, we are launching product focused marketing
campaigns. Earlier this year, we launched the M3330, a global icon and a top seller on
Amazon, and ran a campaign around it. It has been voted as the best sewing machine in the
home segment and is also one of our best sellers on Amazon. Our latest launch the WI- FI
enabled, 3-in-1, Sewing cum embroidery and quilting machine, the SE9185, comes with a
large 7-inch colour touchscreen and mySewnet?, the industry's first cloud-based operating
system. It also has other key features like post-power outage resume, free 100 MB cloud
storage and with over 150 built-in embroidery designs, 250 stitches, and speeds up to 850
SPM,
SE 9185 is positioned as the perfect solution for experienced sewists
and beginners as well.
We are also focusing on digital communication to make people aware of
our new technologically advanced machines, which are easy to learn and use. We are
encouraging people to experience machines which are easy and user friendly and eventually
build desire to learn a new skill and a craft.
We are running consumer centric campaigns and engaging with the strong
DIY community of influencers and creators who are creating awareness
around the endless sewing and crafting possibilities & what is encouraging is that
this movement is happening on a global platform.
In closing, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the trust and
support we have received from all our stakeholders and partners. We are preparing to
capitalize on major trends and opportunities in the retail industry by embracing digital
transformation, omnichannel retailing, and strengthening communication. Through strategic
initiatives, we are confident of our ability to navigate the evolving retail landscape and
continue to deliver value to our customers. With the exciting initiatives underway and our
focus on customer centricity and operational excellence, we are well poised for long-term
growth. Thank you for your continued support as we embark on this exciting journey
together.