Malabar Gold plans big for expansion

Jewellery retailer Malabar Gold and Diamonds is planning to invest up to Rs 4,000 crore in the next fiscal on capacity expansion and opening of 95 stores in the country and overseas, a top company executive said on Thursday. “Today we have 330 stores in India and 11 other countries. We are planning to add 63 stores across the country and 32 overseas, including in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the US, Europe, Egypt, in FY25,” Malabar Group Chairman M P Ahammed told reporters. “For this, we will ramp up our capacity in our manufacturing units. We are looking at an overall investment of up to Rs 4,000 crore in FY25 — Rs 2,646 crore for India and Rs 1,300 crore for overseas,” Ahammed said at the launch of Malabar National Hub in Mumbai. Headquartered in Kerala’s Kozhikode, Malabar Gold and Diamonds opened a Malabar National Hub in Mumbai, which was inaugurated by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday. Currently, Malabar Gold and Diamonds has 330 stores — 189 in India and 141 abroad. The expansion will be funded through internal accrual and debt, he said. “Besides strengthening our existing markets both in the country and overseas, we are also exploring opportunities in new markets like Africa. We are looking at an overall revenue of Rs 60,000 crore in 2025-26, from the Rs 40,000 crore in FY23,” he added. The company has 15 manufacturing units, of which 10 are in India and the rest in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. “We are working on opening a manufacturing unit in Bangladesh, we hope it will become operational this financial year,” he said. On the company’s plans to bring an Initial Public Offering (IPO), Ahammed said, “We are not in any need for capital right now. We are consolidating our business and becoming IPO-ready. We don’t have any plans for an IPO till at least 2024-25.” Ahammed said the company has invested Rs 700 crore in Maharashtra and