India fastest growing market for Levi’s in Asia

Wednesday 14th April 2021 10:07 EDT
 

India fastest growing market for Levi’s in Asia

India has emerged as the fastest growing market in Asia for the US' Levi Strauss & Co. For the first quarter of 2020-21 that ended February 28, the company’s sales in India grew ahead of the same period in 2019, Harmit Singh, global CFO at Levi Strauss & Co, said. “Asia as a region declined 8%. The full digital ecosystem in the region grew over 60% in the quarter. India’s performance was slightly ahead of the region. More importantly, this market grew compared to Q1 of 2019…,” said Singh. Levi’s, which is the largest maker and retailer of denim wear both globally and in India, reported sales of £111.8 million in 2019-20 (the company follows a December-November financial year). Pepe, which is the second-largest brand in India after Levi’s, reported sales of £40.3 million during 2019-20. “Our international markets such as China, India and Russia all had great first quarters and represent significant growth opportunities,” said Chip Bergh, CEO at Levi Strauss & Co.

RBI holds rates, vows growth support

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left interest rates unchanged and vowed to maintain an easy policy stance to sustain growth but cautioned that the recent surge in Covid-19 infections adds uncertainty to the domestic growth outlook amid tightening of restrictions by some state governments. The monetary policy committee (MPC) decided to keep the repo rate - the rate at which the central bank lends to banks - unchanged at 4%. It also unanimously decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary to sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy. The MPC also decided to retain the GDP growth estimates for 2021-22 at 10.5% and the projection for CPI inflation has been revised to 5% in the fourth quarter of 2020-21; 5.2% in the first quarter of 2021-22; 5.2% in the second quarter; 4.4% in the third quarter; and 5.1% in the fourth quarter, with risks broadly balanced.


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