Tata group company Titan on Wednesday said it has finished the March 2022 quarter “on a satisfactory note” despite the Omicron wave impact and global uncertainties. It said demand across all of its businesses continued to be strong with most segments posting y-o-y growth.
The company, which is ace investor Rakesh Jhujhunwala’s largest stock holding, said its network expansion and campaigns have continued to progress well in anticipation of an upbeat Q1 FY23 which is expected to be normal after a gap of two years of lockdowns in the same period.
As of December 2021, Jhunjhunwala and his wife together held a 5.09 per cent stake in the company at Rs 11,483 crore as per the latest share prices.
In a BSE filing, Titan Company said its jewellery division ended the volatile quarter on a flat note over a strong Q4 FY21 base. The company’s revenue from the segment rose four per cent year-on-year in the March 2022 quarter on the back of strong Q4 FY21 base.
“Though the plain jewellery category bore the brunt of gold volatility in March 2022 leading to a slight decline for the quarter, studded sales clocked in a high single-digit growth, thereby partially cushioning the impact.”
It said that while walk-ins saw minor decline, the customer conversions and ticket sizes grew marginally for the quarter compared to the same period last year. Sales from top-eight cities grew in single digits while the rest of India saw a small decline.
The firm’s ‘watches and wearables’ division saw a good 12 per cent growth momentum amid a challenging external environment with sales increasing across all offline channels on the back of the Titan brand. “Store expansions (net) continued with 24 new stores in Titan World and 10 in Helios. Over 44 Titan World stores were renovated to a new format to offer a wider choice of premium brands enhancing the overall customer experience.”
The eyecare segment witnessed a five per cent rise, led by frames and sunglasses. “Network expansion continued in line with ambitious growth plans for the next year. Product innovation continues to be the core focus area and the centerpiece of Titan Eyeplus offerings.”
Titan’s revenue from ‘other businesses’ jumped 23 per cent in the March 2022 quarter. It said the increase in sales from departmental stores and e-commerce led to a healthy 21 per cent year-on-year growth in fragrances and 67 per cent y-o-y growth in fashion accessories businesses, respectively.
The company’s automation solutions business saw large dispatches in the quarter triggered due to postponement of deliveries on the back of supply chain disruptions earlier. The enquiries have shown gradual improvement but are still below normalised levels. The aerospace business achieved moderate growth with good recovery in orders.
Despite a disrupted quarter, Titan’s subsidiary Caratlane’s digital-first strategy enabled it to post a healthy 51 per cent growth year-on-year across product categories and locations. “The digital approach allowed for early trend detections leading to focused reactions in high potential micro-opportunities,” it said.
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