Titan Q3 profit nearly doubles on strong jewellery sales in festive season

Titan Company Ltd on Thursday reported a steep 90% jump in consolidated net profit for the third quarter, as demand for its key products from eyewear to watches and jewellery strongly recovered.

The Tata Group company said it posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,012 crore for the October-December period from Rs 530 crore a year earlier. Standalone profit jumped 136% to Rs 987 crore, exceeding analysts’ forecasts of around Rs 850 crore.

The maker of Fastrack watches and Tanishq jewellery said its consolidated revenue from operations soared 37% to Rs 9,903 crore from Rs 7,243 crore in the corresponding period last year. Growth was led by the jewellery division, which accounts for more than four-fifths of its total revenue.

Titan benefited from strong demand, especially during the festive and wedding season during the quarter. It said that the jewellery division performed “exceedingly well” and other divisions also witnessed growth over pre-pandemic levels. This pushed total income for the quarter by 31% to Rs 9,570 crore.

The total income for the nine months ended December 31 was Rs 20,104 crore, registering a growth of 48%.

Shares of Titan were trading 1% higher on the BSE. The shares have nearly doubled over the past year, despite falling from 52-week highs last month.

Other key highlights

1) Jewellery division recorded revenue of Rs 8,563 crore for Q3, up 37% from a year earlier.

2) Jewellery division clocked earnings before interest and tax of Rs 1,260 crore for Q3 versus Rs 752 crore.

3) The watches and wearables business recorded sales of Rs 708 crore, up 29% from Rs 550 crore in Q3 FY21.

4) Eyewear business generated income of Rs 156 crore, compared with Rs 124 crore in the same period last year.

5) The watches and wearables business recorded EBIT of Rs 82 crore versus Rs 57 crore a year earlier.

6) Eyewear business registered EBIT of Rs 34 crore versus Rs 22 crore a year earlier.

Management commentary

CK Venkataraman, managing director at Titan, said the festive purchases during the quarter drove strong growth in all businesses and that the quarter has turned out to be one of the best quarters in terms of growth and profitability.

“We continue to leverage technology and innovations in launching our new products and campaigns which have been received very well by the consumers,” he said.

He also said that while the third wave of Covid-19 has slowed down the strong momentum, the company was hopeful of ending the year on a positive note.