The Hindu Business Line : Titan posts 11% rise in Q3 net

Bangalore, Jan. 21 Amidst the impact of the rupee appreciation and volatility in gold prices, Titan Industries has posted an 11 per cent increase in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007 at Rs 30.84 crore. Its sales turnover grew over 50 per cent to Rs 813.45 crore.

In the first nine months of 2007-08, sales turnover was Rs 2,205 crore (annual sales turnover for 2006-07 was Rs 2,136 crore).

Yet again, the jewellery division continued its edge over watches sales. Jewellery sales for the third quarter rose to Rs 591.41 crore (Rs 366.51 crore). The watches division posted sales of Rs 195.15 crore (Rs 162.43 crore). During the nine months ended December 2007, the watch division sales grew by 20 per cent to Rs 640.87 crore this year. Jewellery grew by over 61 per cent to Rs 1,496.66 crore.

According to a company release, “The festival season during the last quarter has been good for both the watch and jewellery businesses. However, during the quarter, there has been significant volatility and upward movement in gold prices, which have affected consumer sentiment and margins.”

Retail chains

Apart from Tanishq, the company’s jewellery retail chain, the mass jewellery brand ‘Goldplus’ crossed sales of Rs 100 crore during the first nine months of this financial year. The release added that the Precision Engineering business has “attracted several new customers and is showing good promise. Both the Precision Engineering and International Business Divisions have been slightly impacted because of appreciation of the rupee with reference to the US dollar.”

Commenting on the results, especially the watches division, Mr Harish Bhat, COO – Watches, Titan Industries, said: “Our retail network has grown in the last few months significantly. We have about 225 World of Titan Stores, 100 Tanishq stores and 20 Goldplus stores, apart from eight Eyeplus stores. Apart from a strong retail network, we had also launched an array of innovative products – especially in the watches division – like the Heritage, Raga Crystal collections and the Fastrack neon disc watches. We will continue to add interesting products in the coming months. The festival season and the coming wedding season will also boost our sales further.”

Minority buyout

Meanwhile, at its meeting held on Monday, Titan Industries has informed the BSE that the company’s board of directors has approved the proposal for buy-out of minority interest in the three domestic companies – Samrat Holdings, Questar Investments Ltd and Titan Holdings Ltd (transferor companies) based on further negotiations with the minority for higher valuation of these companies.

The board has approved the buy-out of the minority interest, in lieu of the swap ratio in exchange of shares for the consideration in these companies, at an aggregate value not exceeding Rs 21.90 crore, exclusive of stamp duty and other charges.

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