Friday, August 13 2010 @ 02:07 PM ICT

Contributed by: news

Arvind Ltd., a supplier of denim to Levi Strauss & Co. and Gap Inc., expects annual sales to jump 23.5 percent as buyers in the U.S. and worldwide spend more on apparels, Chairman and Managing Director said.

Group sales at the world’s biggest denim maker may climb to 40 billion rupees ($855 million) in the year to March from 32.4 billion rupees a year ago, Lalbhai said in a telephone interview yesterday. Net income will show a “healthy” gain from 499.5 million rupees, he said, without giving a forecast.

“I see good times for textiles in India and most companies are currently enjoying a strong demand situation,” Lalbhai said. “The Indian middle class is growing and they have started to spend more money on grooming and on wardrobe.”

Arvind plans to spend 3 billion rupees this year to expand its yarn-dyed cotton shirting capacity, he said. The capacity to make denim will be expanded by 20 million meters to meet growing demand from the U.S. as the world’s largest economy revives from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

The company’s shares jumped as much as 4.4 percent to 40.60 rupees in Mumbai trading and are set for a weekly advance of 8.9 percent, the most since the week ended Oct. 16. The stock surged 11 percent in July and more than doubled last year.

Arvind plans to sell or develop 7 billion rupees of land it owns in cities Ahmedabad and Bangalore in partnership with real- estate developers, Lalbhai said. The company plans to use some of the money raised from sale to pare long-term debt of about 12 billion rupees, he said.