Electrolux India vice-president Ajay Kapila (centre) in New Delhi on Thursday. Picture by Ramakant Kushwaha

New Delhi, Feb. 10: Ailing white goods major Electrolux India hopes to come out of the red by the end of the calendar year. For the first time, it has posted a positive net worth.

The company is also betting aggressively on new product segments, while it awaits capital infusion from its Swedish parent.

?The company has reduced its losses by more than half this fiscal and for the first time, its net worth has become positive. It is on its way to turn to the black by the end of this calendar year,? vice-president Ajay Kapila said.

The company has been running into losses since it entered India in 2001.

Having posted a 15 per cent growth in 2004, it is targeting a 20 per cent compounded annual growth rate for the next year on the back of new product offerings.

In an attempt to shed its image as only a refrigerators and washing machines company, Electrolux introduced a range of microwaves and air-conditioners last year.

Today, it announced its foray in built-in kitchen appliances such as hobs and hoods and said it would also introduce garden equipment such as lawn mowers and professional saws during the year.

?The Rs 150-crore built-in kitchen appliances category is largely dominated by unorganised players. Electrolux is the first major branded organised player in the country to venture in this segment, which has been growing at a phenomenal rate of 40 per cent due to low penetration levels,? said Kapila.

The company will offer a combination of hobs and hoods at a price range of Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000 in 10 top cities initially, before venturing to smaller ones.

The entire range would be imported from AB Electrolux?s plant in Italy.

Kapila said though refrigerators had been Electrolux?s mainstay, contributing 80-90 per cent of the total turnover in India, the aim was to gradually lower this to 65 per cent by the year-end and increase the contribution of other product segments.

Microwaves, air-conditioners and kitchen appliances were expected to contribute about 10 per cent each to the total turnover by the year-end, while the rest was likely to come from other product categories such as deep freezers, dishwashers and garden equipment.

Apart from product realigning, Electrolux is also looking at increasing its distributor network to about 300 from the current 250 to drive sales. ?Besides, we have been introducing products at new price points to pull customers towards this brand,? said Kapila.