NEW DELHI: An extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of TIMEX Watches, the Indian arm, Tuesday decided to allot 2.5 million non-cumulative redeemable and non-convertible preference shares of 100 each to the parent TIMEX Watches BV, according to a company statement. With this, the authorised share capital of the company will increase from 1.25 billion to 1.5 billion, made up of 125 million equity shares of 10 each and 2.5 million preference shares of 100 each. The investment is expected to come in immediately, allowing the Indian subsidiary to clear its liabilities, TIMEX Watches managing director Kapil Kapoor told IANS. "The additional investment would help us to clear our liabilities running into millions. The liabilities were incurred for restructuring our operations and manufacturing facility," Kapoor said. On the company's plans to increase market share in India, Kapoor said: "We are planning to bring in several new brands from our global stable, starting with Reebok Watches and French Connection of Britain. "We are also studying the market for bringing in other global brands in due course. With the infusion of additional investment and increase in sales, we hope to break-even during 2003-04 fiscal," said Kapoor. The Indian subsidiary registered a 40 percent jump in sales in the quarter ending December 31 to touch 234.7 million compared with 168 million in the corresponding quarter of 2001 The company's market share rose to 22 percent from 15 percent during last year, according to a study conducted by Kerala's KSA Technopak. It has targeted 33 percent of the market by the end of 2004.
Source: IANS