Titan Industries — clocks best ever performance
June 6, 2006

Titan Industries has ended the year 2005-06 with sales growth of 30 per cent and profit after taxes has gone up almost three times.

Both the time products division and the jewellery division did well, enabling the company to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 1,481 crore, up by 30 per cent from Rs 1,135 crore in 2004-05. Profit after taxes grew almost three times from Rs 24.95 crore in the previous year to Rs 73.62 crore.

The watch segment grew by 14.8 per cent to a sales income of Rs 655 crore, while jewellery sales went up by 48 per cent to Rs 791 crore. Sales of other products, including accessories and precision engineering components, rose by 17.8 per cent to Rs 37 crore.

During the quarter ended 31 March 2006, sales income grew by 31 per cent from Rs 331 crore to Rs 434 crore and profit after taxes went up by more than two and a half times the previous year's PAT of Rs 14.68 crore to reach a high of Rs 37.21 crore. While the jewellery division has overtaken the watch segment in terms of sales turnover, the time products division continues to be the main contributor to the profits of the company.

The company continues to invest in brand building and advertising, and these outlays crossed Rs 101 crore in 2005-06, up from Rs 77 crore the year before. All the brands of the company are doing exceedingly well. Both Titan and Tanishq grew at faster rates than in the previous year, and the initiatives with a focus on youth through Fastrack as well as on the mass market with Sonata have been successful. February 2006 saw the introduction of the high-end Swiss brand XYLYS.

The rights issue of the company closed in April 2006 with over-subscription of 20 per cent and allotment of the new shares and debentures was made on May 12, 2006.

In view of the strong performance of the company, the directors have recommended a dividend of 30 per cent (up from 20 per cent in the previous year).