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Titan Industries announced an income growth of 9.2 percent in an extremely challenging
first quarter of 2012-13. While the sales income grew from Rs2020.51 crore last
year to Rs2205.65 crore in Q1, the profit after tax for the same period grew
by 8.8 percent to Rs156.09 crore from Rs143.51 crore last year. The company’s
PBT stands at Rs212.22 crore in Q1, as against Rs196.76 crore during the same
period last year, registering a growth of 7.9 percent.
All businesses of the company have recorded growth in first quarter. Jewellery
income in Q1 was Rs1775.53 crore, a growth of 7.8 percent over last year’s
income of Rs1647.11 crore. Gold in rupee terms touched its peak at Rs3067
per gram of 24K during this quarter, thus affecting the growth of jewellery.
The watches business recorded an income of Rs360.69 crore as against Rs315.39
crore last year in Q1, a growth of 14.4 percent. The reduction in wedding dates during
the quarter has also affected both watches and jewellery. The company’s
other businesses, eyewear, precision engineering and accessories grew by 15.7 percent
to Rs89.62 crore. The precision engineering division continued its momentum
of last year and the business outlook looks positive with enhanced interest
from overseas clients.
The company’s youth brand, Fastrack launched a successful collection
in sunglasses called Eye Sport, and also introduced girls’
summer bags and his and her collections. In international markets,
the company launched a successful Search for the Face of Titan
campaign in Vietnam and sponsored a high-profile marathon in Kuala Lumpur.
The company maintained the momentum of retail expansion across all its businesses
and opened 20 stores in the first quarter, ending the period with a retail area
of 1.08 million sq ft nationally. The Titan Industries retail chain is 847 stores strong,
as on June 30, 2012 and is expanding with growth plans in place for all its
retail businesses – watches and accessories, jewellery and eyewear.
Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of the company stated, “The first
quarter has been disappointing by way of sales growth due to several factors
leading to a weak consumer sentiment. Consumer response was good only to discount
offers, thereby impacting margins, specially in watches and eyewear. Looking
ahead, factors like high inflation, a weak rupee and poor monsoon are likely
to have an adverse impact on our targeted growth; but Titan Industries will leverage
the strength of its brands and maintain its investments in brand building, retail
network expansion and new product introductions to infuse confidence in consumers.”
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