Page Industries Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

Page Industries Limited was incorporated in the year 1995 with the key objective of bringing the innerwear brand ‘Jockey to India. The core values of the brand include youthfulness, fun, quality, value, confidence and innovation. The company has introduced a wide range of quality products for men, women and children as well as innovative marketing concepts such as display modules aimed at enhancing the consumer’s involvement with the purchase.

The company commenced operations in the year 1995 in Bengaluru with the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of Jockey products. The company has added to its profile by entering into license with ‘SPEEDO’, globally known International brand for swim wear.

Jockey is the company’s flagship brand and a market leader in the innerwear category. Page Industries and Brand Jockey have pioneered the innerwear industry on many fronts. The company has established the premium segment in the innerwear category in India through brand Jockey. The introduction of high quality products coupled with an organized and extensive network of distributors pan India has created a paradigm shift in the way consumers perceive innerwear in the country.

Jockey took the bold stance of changing the rules of retailing innerwear two decades ago. Modules and Fixtures for product display, attractive Box Packaging and Lifestyle Point-of-Sale imagery ensured the category was brought ‘out of the closet’ using first of its kind international brand communication. Jockey was also the first innerwear brand in India to set up Exclusive Brand Outlets across the country. As of September 2017, the brand has 384 Exclusive Brand Outlets across India with 286 stores on high streets and 98 stores in shopping malls with heavy footfalls. These stores reinforce the legacy of brand Jockey and allow it to showcase its complete range of products in Innerwear, Athleisure and Sportswear for men, women and kids.

Speedo International Limited appointed Page Industries as their sole licensee for the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of the Speedo brand in India. The vision of Speedo is to ‘inspire people to swim; with Speedo.’ The mission of Page Industries is to be the number one swimwear brand in the country in terms of both market share and profitability.

Business area of the company

Page Industries’ brand Jockey has pioneered the innerwear industry on many fronts. The company has established the premium segment in the innerwear category in India through brand Jockey.

Products of the company

• Men’s Innerwear
  
• Women’s Innerwear
  
• Sport and Leisurewear
  
• Thermals

Awards and Accolades

• The Company has received an award from Debra Waller, Chairman of the Board & CEO of Jockey International, honouring 25 years of strong partnership.
  
• Mr. Sunder Genomal, Managing Director, received the award for INDIA’S BEST CEO (Textiles) 2015 during the fourth edition of the Business Today Best CEO Awards held in December 2015 at New Delhi.
  
• Mr. Pius Thomas, former Executive Director -Finance had been chosen by an eminent Jury -Chaired by former RBI Deputy Governor Mr. Subir Gokarn - as the winner in the Sustained Wealth Creation Medium Category at the fifth Business Today- YES Bank Best CFO Awards in 2015.
  
• Jockey International has felicitated Page Industries Limited for ‘twenty years of service and dedication to the Jockey brand’ in 2015.
  
• The company has been awarded by Jockey International for ‘the Outstanding Marketing of the Jockey brand’ in 2015.
  
• The Company has received the award for the ‘Outstanding Advancement of the Jockey Global Retail Image’ by Jockey International in 2015.
  
• The Company has received the award for the ‘Best Wholesale Growth in 2013’ by Speedo International in 2015.
  
• Brand Jockey has won the award for the Buzziest Brand in Apparel, Fashion, Accessories for 2015. This award has been given by the Advertising and Marketing fraternity through a voting panel of eminent personalities as well as advertising professionals and brand marketers.
  
• The Company has been awarded the International licensee of the year award by Jockey International Inc (USA) for the years 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2016.
  
• Mr. Vedji Ticku, Executive Director & CEO, received the ‘Decadal Award’ on behalf of Page Industries Limited at the 10th edition of the CNBC TV18 Emerging India Awards event.
  
• Mr. Sunder Genomal, Managing Director, featured in INDIA’S BEST CEOs’ list released by Business Today in January 2017. This renowned study was jointly conducted by Business Today and PwC.
  
• Mr. Sunder Genomal, Managing Director, wa awarded ‘EY Entrepreneur of the year 2017’ Award in the Consumer Products & Retail category. A distinguished nine-member jury led by Mr. Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals selected the winners from India.
  
• Mr. Sunder Genomal, Managing Director, received ‘Economic Times Awards 2018 - ‘Emerging Company of the Year’ on behalf of Page Industries Ltd. Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, Honorable Vice-President of India and Mr. Arun Jaitley, the then Finance Minister, presented the award.

Milestones

1880

• In 1876, Samuel Thrall Cooper founded S.T. Cooper & Sons, the predecessor of Jockey International, Inc. Samuel Cooper started his hosiery business in St. Joseph, Michigan to help lumberjacks who were suffering from their poor quality socks, laying Jockeys foundation for ‘Satisfying the Human Need for Comfort.’ 
  
• By 1878, S.T. Cooper & Sons was producing nearly 2,500 pairs of seamless stockings each day. Over the next 25 years, Cooper's sons (Charles, Henry and Willis) became skilled in the business. In 1897, they introduced the Black Cat brand of hosiery for men, women & children, and in 1898, the brothers moved the company and eventually moved the company into an ambitious new direction Men's Underwear.

1900

• In 1900, the brothers incorporated as the Cooper Underwear Company and began producing White Cat underwear. 
  
• The new Cooper Underwear Company mill, which manufactured White Cat union suits, was completed in 1902. This location still serves as the longtime headquarters of Jockey International, Inc.

1910

• In 1912, the patented Cooper union suit, branded as the Kenosha Klosed Krotch, rose to the top of the underwear market and was sold faster than it could be produced. 
  
• Cooper hired Joseph C. Leyendecker, illustrator for The Saturday Evening Post, to create the ‘Man on the Bag’ image a staple of the company's brand identity and a classic American advertising image.
  

1920

• 1920s Arthur Kneibler was hired by Cooper Underwear in 1928 to head its sales and marketing team. 
  
• In 1929, the Cooper Underwear Company officially changed its name to Coopers, Inc. That year, Coopers' developed the Singleton, a new-style union suit with short legs and a sleeveless top and packaged them in cellophane bags - a first in the underwear trade and a huge selling point in modern self-service apparel stores.
  

1930

• In 1934, Arthur Kneibler received a post card from the French Riviera showing a man in a bikini style swimsuit. This simple postcard inspired the creation of the one and only Jockey brief.
• In 1935, Coopers began selling the Jockey short on a larger scale. The day of its debut, Chicago's popular Marshall Field & Company sold out its stock of 600 packages by noon and sold 12,000 more in the following weeks. The Jockey short became a national sensation. 
  
• The Jockey9Y-Fronte brief was invented later that year and became Coopers most sought after item. The success of the Y-Front brief was followed with the design of the Jockey Midways Brief. 
  
• Coopers signed its first international license agreement with the Canadian J.R. Moodie company in 1936. That same year, European export agents began placing orders for Coopers products. During the remaining century, licensee agreements were signed in Australia and throughout Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. 
  
• At a retail convention in Chicago in 1938, Cooper's hosted one of the first Underwear Fashion Shows, featuring The Cellophane Wedding. 
  
• A Coopers salesman in 1939 invented a ground-breaking countertop dispenser to organize sizes and styles of underwear.
  

1940

• 1940s To better symbolize the pride in the brand, Coopers commissioned well known sculptor and painter, Frank Hoffman, to produce the Jockey Boy. 
  
• 1946 ushered in one of the company's most important merchandising tools endorsements from star athletes one of the first being home run king, Babe Ruth. In 1947, the Jockey brand name was stitched into the waistband of the underwear for the first time.
  

1950

• Coopers advertised in the first issue of Sports Illustrated magazine in 1954. 
  
• In 1958, Coopers introduced Jockey Skants briefs, the company's first foray into fashion underwear. Coopers also purchased its first TV advertising, read live by Jack Parr on the Tonight Show.
  

1960

• Harry Wolf Sr., future owner of Jockey International, Inc., became President of Coopers in 1960. 
  
• The Jockey Low Rise brief was born in 1961 and became a huge success in Europe. The Jockey Half-boy trademark was also introduced that year. 
  
• Coopers introduced the Jockey Life Low Rise brief to the United States.
  

1970

• In 1971, Coopers, Inc. changed its name to Jockey Menswear, Inc., and then changed its name to Jockey International, Inc. in 1972. 
  
• In 1972, Jockey International, Inc. established a new line called Trophy, fashions for the golf course, and by 1975, Jockey's Sportswear line accounted for one third of the company's sales. 
  
• The Jockey Elancee collection was launched in 1976, beginning the company's longstanding leadership in the world of men's fashion underwear. 
  
• In 1978 Donna Wolf Steigerwaldt, daughter of Harry Wolf Sr., took the helm at Jockey International, Inc. and ushered in a new golden age at the company
  

1980

• In 1982, Steigerwaldt introduced the enormously successful Jockey for Her. Jockey for Her hosiery was introduced in 1988.
  

1990

• Jockey developed the Life brand for Wal-Mart in 1996. Jockey launched the first generation of its Web site in 1997. The ‘Let 'em Know You're Jockey' advertising campaign in Times Square coincided with the opening of a new showroom in New York's Fashion District in 1998. 
  
• Jockey increased its retail capabilities in 1999 with the launch of Jockey.com

2000

• Debra Steigerwaldt Waller succeeded her mother as Jockey's Chairman & CEO. 
  
• In 2001, Jockey International, Inc. launched its revolutionary No Panty Line Promise panties. 
  
• Jockey embarked on a mission in 2004 to develop underwear in an innovative new way, ultimately becoming the 3D-Innovations line of products. 
  
• Jockey launched Jockey Person to Person, Inc., its direct sales business, in 2004. 
  
• In 2005 Jockey introduced the Jockey SwirlTM Icon. Jockey's corporate citizenship initiative, Jockey Being Family, was also launched that year. Jockey launched its 3D-Innovations garments in most major metropolitan areas across the United States in 2006 and introduced the collection globally in 2007. 
  
• 2007 witnessed the launch of Jockey's first retail catalog along with its freedom inspiring ‘Dare to Be You’ television ad.

2020

• Page Industries resumes its manufacturing operations, in all 15 facilities / Units, (including all Warehouses) on different dates from May 04, 2020, with health and safety guidelines in place. The company had temporary shutdown its manufacturing activities and other offices on March 24, 2020, due to Covid-19 outbreak.