KPR Mills cautions in slide in dollar rate
If the last two months of slide in dollar rate against rupee were agonising for most garment exporters in Tirupur, KPR Mill managed to insulate itself from the value loss arising from the strengthening rupee."Though we export 95 per cent of our garments to the European Union countries, we were not unduly affected because 60 per cent of our export trade were done on euro. With regard to the remaining 35 per cent, we have largely had forward cover," said Mr P. Nataraj, Managing Director, KPR Mill.Even otherwise, KPR has adopted the cautious approach of not entering on long-term contract and most of the garment shipments by the company were being booked on `order-to-order' basis. "The low export order cycle lasting within three or four months adopted by us enabled us to overcome this and the current dollar-rupee swings had, therefore, not unduly affected us," said Mr K. Kuppu Dhandapani, Chief Financial Officer, KPR Mill.
The mill's garment exports grew from Rs 11 crore in 2001 to Rs 130 crore last year. The company has a tie-up with US private equity partner Martin Trust, which has invested in KPR Mill, through its private equity investment arm Brandot International.
