Bouyed by an overwhelming growth in footfalls across key formats by over 30%, Titan Industries posted a whopping 36% yoy growth in Q3 FY 21-22 to Rs. 9,516 Cr. Tanishq, the jewellery retail business witnessed a growth of 37% to Rs. 8,563 Cr. Watches and wearables saw a revenue growth of 29% to Rs. 708 Cr while Eyewear grew 26% to Rs. 156 Cr. The overall two year CAGR for the company was at 24%, a clear indication that the retail behemoth is back to business after 2 years of slump due to the pandemic.
The company’s net store additions was 149 during the quarter, that is after calculating store closures and new store openings. There are totally 2,064 stores the group operates across 323 towns in India including various brands and formats such as Tanishq, Caratlane, Fastrack, Titan Eye+, Zudio, Taniera and so on. Helios, the watch-retailing chain grew 43% over the same quarter last year, indicating a higher consumer confidence in luxury and discretionary spends. The company opened it’s first ever Caratlane store at Bangalore airport in Dec. ‘21 to showcase the brand attributes to travellers. Caratlane is expected to cross over Rs. 1,000 Cr in turnover in FY 22-23, strengthening its omn-ichannel approach.
The core business of Titan Watches however saw a modest 24% growth during the quarter over the last year while Fastrack (at a brand level) saw a mere 9% growth. This could mean that the larger middle class is not really spending on indulgence, rather only focussing on their basic needs with an unsteady future due to job losses, lower incomes and an overall slower economy for the past 18 months. Fastrack, which was once a youth-centric brand in the watches and eyewear space has lost its sheen to other similar Indian and international peers. The company which once had watches starting at as low as Rs. 500 a piece is now struggling for volumes while the core “Titan” watch brand has fewer takers today, what with a growing tendency towards foreign labels.
Titan’s Tanishq continues to remain a benchmark in the ornamental jewellery business where most of its products are not sold by weight, similar to conventional jewellers. Tanishq is endeared by its customers because of its exclusive and unique designs which sets apart similar offering from its peers. The choice to chase growth within the store by increasing ASP and bill values has indeed helped the retail chain instead of a focus on store count.
Mr.CK Venkataraman, Managing Director, Titan said in a statement, “The festive purchases in the quarter has driven Titan’s strong growth in all businesses of the Company and 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. While the onset of Covid wave 3 has slowed down the strong momentum, the Company is hopeful of ending the year on a positive note.”
