Hameedia seeks public listing

Hameedia, the premier Sri Lankan men’s wear retailers, plans a public listing next year after expansion to Bangladesh, Nepal and Kuwait.

“We are planning to open stores in these countries by next year and then explore the possibilities of an initial public offering (IPO),” Fouzul Hameed, Managing Director of the company, told The Sunday Times FT.

The first local retailer to develop a brand, Hameedia will launch its designer brand, F H Collection’, targeting up-market clientele, next year. ‘So far we have three brands, Signature for the mass market, Le Bond for the young market and Envoy for the high end while next year we will come up with F H Collection, which will be launched in India as well,” Hameed explained. Speaking about the challenges for the retail clothing industry, Hammed pointed out that there are many competitors who ‘imitate’ Hameedia brands.

“Our industry is already facing unbearable costs such as the Cess levy, VAT, port charges, bank charges and transport and handling which totals up to around 25 percent. Added to this if there are companies which imitate my brand and sell, it for a lesser amount, we cannot survive in the industry on the long run,” he noted. Hameed said the company has begun an education campaign for the public on this issue, which is showing good results, but reiterated that laws should be implemented to tackle copycats.

“In addition for all these challenges, including the price war, we have an advertising war and when the economy is declining, our brand power is also declining,” he said.