Khind to explore home appliances market in Middle East and Africa

Malaysian consumer electronics brand Khind plans to expand its presence in the Middle East and Africa through its UAE’s base to double its revenue in next two years, its top official says.

The Kuala Lumpur-based business conglomerate will explore Saudi and other GCC markets to increase its exports to the region to Dh100 million annually by 2023.

“We made a foray to the UAE market in 1988 and set up our first office in Dubai to expand our operations to Middle East. Now, we have a strategy to establish strong brand presence in the region especially for our energy-efficient home appliances,” Adil Mistry, group chief executive officer at Khind Holdings, told Khaleej Times during an interview at Jumeirah Lake Towers office.

Khind a global brand

Khind is a global brand and manufacturer of energy-efficient and environment-friendly electrical and households products. It was established in 1961 and has presence in more than 50 countries in the world.

Khind Middle East is a subsidiary of Malaysian brand and has presence in 15 countries across the Middle East and Africa. It currently channels its products through a large number of distributors, retailers and online channels such as Amazon and noon, the two biggest online market places in the region.

“Khind products have strong online presence in the region. We are now in process to establish an offline network to showcase our products in key markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” Mistry said.

“We have plans to explore other GCC markets and Iraq to increase our exports to the region as outlook for household appliances is very promising here due to strong purchasing power of buyers,” he said.

Referring to Statista.com latest data, he said household appliances market in the Middle East and Africa is expected to reach $7.6 billion this year and $8.4 billion in 2023. It was stood firm at $6.3 billion in 2017.

“The UAE is a very vibrant market for household appliances as the demand for energy-efficient products is on the rise and may generate sales worth Dh1.21 billion this year. This segment is expected to show a compound annual growth rate of 14.84 per cent between 2021 and 2025, resulting in a projected market volume of Dh2.11 billion by 2025,” Mistry said.

To a question why the buyers should prefer Khind products over other known brands, he said ‘our products’ offer value for money to the customers with a comprehensive after sales service.

“We offer affordable, reliable and trendy products for residential and commercial units that deliver exceptional performance, energy and cost savings,” he said.

“Our brand offers a durable product range that have a longer life than other products in the marke,” he added.

Exports contribute 50% to Khind revenue

To a question, Mistry said about 50 per cent of Khind revenue is generated through its exports to Middle East and Asean countries while rest of the 50 per cent is contributed by domestic sales across Malaysia.

“We have a resilient business model and recorded strong growth in revenues and profits in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our topline revenue surged 32 per cent to RM479 milllion last year from RM363.2 million in 2019 while net profit rose to RM28.5 million from RM1.86 million in 2019,” he said.

“We recorded outstanding performance last year and also achieved our first-half targets despite the lockdowns due to the pandemic. We are lucky to be in the industry that has a positive growth in the pandemic,” he added.

Dubai an international business hub

Mistry, who is confident of the brand resurgence after a successful restructuring, said Dubai is no doubt an international business hub because of its excellent infrastructure, visionary leadership and consistent economic policies.

“Dubai is a strong business and financial hub and attracted all major brands to establish their presence in the emirate. It is one of the few destinations across the world that open its borders for business after successfully tackled Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

To a question, he said Khind recently relocated to larger office in Dubai to strengthen sales and marketing activities across the Middle East and Africa.

“We will expand Khind presence in the region through Dubai, which is no doubt an international business hub catering to the needs of corporate brands and multinational companies,” he said.

To a question, he said UAE and Malaysia have strong bilateral trade and investment relations and it would further strengthen in coming years.

“Many Malaysian companies and groups have established strong presence in the UAE to expand their operations in the region. The UAE has developed investor-friendly environment that will continue to attract more investment from various parts of the world,” Mistry concluded.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com