Calcutta, Sept. 18: Delhi-based apparel manufacturer Koutons Retail India Ltd will re-enter the export business.

Formed in 1996, the company stopped exports in 2004. In the same year, it also parted ways with its distributors and dealers and started selling through exclusive outlets owned either by the firm or by franchisees.

“This way we were able to save all those intermediate costs associated with distributors, dealers and retailers,” said D.P.S. Kohli, chairman of Koutons Retail India.

The company could also offer a lower price by supplying directly to retailers. This has helped in improving the company’s profit margins to 8.54 per cent in 2006-07 from 1.93 per cent in 2003.

Koutons has 999 exclusive outlets, of which 142 are owned by the company and the rest by franchisee outlets. “We plan to set up 142 more such outlets over the next one year,” Kohli said.

The company’s initial public offering (IPO) today got subscribed by nearly two times. The IPO, which opened today, got subscribed 1.85 times, receiving 65.04 lakh bids against 35.24 lakh equity shares on offer.

In June, Fidelity Investment (Mauritius) picked up 4.16 per cent in the company.