Watch to jewellery maker Titan Ltd posted largely in-line quarterly financial numbers though Covid-19 related disruption adversely impacted its top line and profit for this period.
The Tata group company said, it could minimise the impact of the pandemic due to aggressive cost control measures. The company also said that its stores across the country was receiving encouraging response as they open up under the relaxed lockdown norms.
In the quarter ended March, Titan posted profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 509.25 crore, a rise of around 13 per cent when compared with the same period in the previous fiscal. Net profit of the Bengaluru-headquartered firm in the fourth quarter declined 1.5 per cent at Rs 343 crore, year-on-year. Sequentially, the net profit declined 28 per cent as the pandemic adversely impacted its operations during March.
Consolidated revenues of the firm declined around 4 per cent at Rs 4,753.2 crore year-on-year basis. Sequentially, revenues were down by 37.8 per cent. According to the Bengaluru-headquartered firm, significant impact came in the second half of March 2020 due to the pandemic with the shutting down of all stores.
“The company’s good performance across all divisions in the first two months of the quarter was negated considerably by the Covid-19 pandemic in the second half of March,” said CK Venkataraman, Managing Director at Titan Ltd. “Our stores are now opening up with strict social distancing norms across the country and response from customers over the last few weeks have been very encouraging.”
During the January-March period of FY20, business from jewellery division declined by 5.8 per cent at Rs 3,754 crore on YoY basis. The division, which is the largest revenue contributor for the company, saw a good run till the lockdown in March despite high gold prices.
Similarly, the eyewear business saw a dip in revenues by 17.4 per cent at Rs 108 crore as against Rs 130 crore reported in the same period of last year. Earnings from watches division increased 4.9 per cent at Rs 557 crore during this period.
Other segments of the company comprising Indian dresswear and accessories recorded a revenue of Rs 41 crore, a growth of 12.5 per cent over the last year.
For the whole fiscal year (FY20), PBT rose 7.4 per cent at Rs 2,101.65 crore over the same period a year ago. Net profit for FY20 stood at Rs 1,492.66 crore as compared Rs 1,388.65 crore posted in FY19. Revenue at Rs 21,204.77 crore, saw a growth of 6.2 per cent.
For the whole fiscal, jewellery division posted a revenue of Rs 16,738 crore, a rise of 4.4 per cent over the same period of last fiscal and continued to do well relative to the market.
The Tata group firm said its strong balance sheet brand equity along with numerous measures to eliminate wasteful expenditure would help the company to prevail over the near-term challenges.