The Titan Industries stock seems to be keeping pace with the bullish market trend in style. The stock ended at Rs 120.4 on Feb 27 after having climbed down from its 52-week high of Rs 143.8 notched on December 24, 2003. To understand the stock movement in the right perspective, one must understand that just in March-end it was at its 52-week low of Rs 50. From then on it has been northward sojourn and has appreciated by 140 per cent double that of the Sensex during the same period.
 
For the quarter ended December 2003, net profit stood at nearly Rs 3 crore on net sales of Rs 288.5 crore. In the quarter to September 2003-04, the net sales had stood of Rs 222.5 crore. However, net profit had increased by a massive 234 per cent y-o-y at Rs 6.22 crore. 

The blend of style, affordability and durability have been the keys to Titan’s success. Its presence in all price points has enhanced its visibility. From the highest range of Titan to the lowest range of Sonata, along with the brand ‘Dash’ for young adults, Titan Industries has something to offer to all ages. 

Titan has been on a global trot since the early 90’s. In Great Britain, Spain, Greece, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai, Oman and Saudi Arabia, Titan has been having a substantial presence, as reported by the company. It exports watches to about 40 countries around the world. 

Titan is a joint venture between one of India’s oldest business houses, the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). Currently the Indian promoters hold 53 per cent of the equity capital, while institutional investors hold 11 per cent. Indian public accounts for 29 per cent of the total equity. 

Titan is the world’s sixth largest manufacturer brand of watches and India’s leading producer of watches under brand names like Titan, Sonata, Classique, Steel, Edge, Regalia, Royale, Raga, Fastrack, Technology, Nebula, Karishma and Bandhan. Its product portfolio, apart from watches and clocks, includes accessories and jewellry, in both contemporary and traditional designs. The manufacturing facilities are located in Hosur, Dehradun and Goa. 

The company manufactures precious jewellry under the Tanishq brand name, making it India’s only national jewellry brand. The company reports that it exports Tanishq jewellry to Europe, USA, Middle East and Australia and claims to have an extensive domestic distribution network. Its retail chain, supposed to be one among the world’s largest, includes exclusive retail 152 showrooms called ‘The World of Titan’ along with multibrand outlets named Time Zones (144 outlets for watches). 

Titan says that its watch sales crossed the five crore customers mark. Tanishq Jewellry division has a total of 50 Tanishq boutiques. Titan Industries expects its jewellry business to overtake timewear business in the next four years. The company has also identified customised jewellry and workwear jewellry as growth opportunities for Tanishq. Recently, it planned to renew its focus on Value Mart, the retail initiative for clearing factory surpluses that the company had set up some time back. During the current fiscal, Titan plans to revamp its five Value Mart outlets in Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai and open new ones in other locations. 

Earlier, it was reported that following encouraging response to its branded jewellry, Tanishq has been looking at destination stores such as Lifestyle, Pantaloons, Globus, Big Bazaar and other leading chain stores in India for boutiques. In late 2003 it set up its first-ever shop-n-shop boutique at Shoppers’ Stop in Mumbai. 

Even as high-end customers continue to drool over fashionable foreign-made watches advertised by Hollywood models and Bollywood heroes, Titan continues to have a big presence across a cross section of customers and investors.