In the first nine months (9M) of financial year 2018-19 (FY19), India’s overall textile and apparel sales increased by 9 per cent, according to the latest Wazir Textile Index (WTI). There has been a revival in the EBITDA with a significant increase of 17 per cent in 9M FY19 as compared to 9M FY18. Raw material cost saw an increase of 8 per cent. While employee cost saw an increase of 7 per cent in 9M FY19, other costs also saw an increase of 10 per cent for the same period, WTI data showed.
For the top textile and apparel companies, there was an increase in overall sales and EBITDA margins by 9 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, as compared to 9M FY18. SRF has shown the highest sales growth of 45 per cent, while Indo Rama Synthetics and RSWM witnessed a decline of 28 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
India’s overall textile and apparel exports witnessed a growth of 2 per cent, while the apparel exports declined by 8 per cent during the nine-month period, the Index showed. Meanwhile, textile and apparel imports rose 5 per cent with a significant 52 per cent rise in apparel imports.
