NEW DELHI: Titan Co reported a 10.9 per cent year-on-year drop in standalone profit at Rs 419 crore for the third quarter, despite witnessing higher demand for jewellery during the festive season.
"The very impressive festive season growth led the company to its highest ever quarterly profit with profit before tax and exceptional items of Rs 765 crore, compared to Rs 637 crore in the previous year, a growth of 20 per cent for the quarter," Titan said in a BSE filing.
Revenue grew by 17.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,287 crore in Q3, including sale of gold bullion to the extent of Rs 340 crore. During the quarter, the company took a one-time loss of Rs 137 crore on account of scaling down of its subsidiary Favre Leuba.
The Tanishq maker said it reported a return to year-on-year growth in sales in the December quarter. While the jewellery business grew by 16 per cent (excluding gold bullion sales) over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the watches and wearables and eyewear divisions also did well with the recovery rate for the quarter being 88 per cent and 93 per cent, respectively, the company added.
Jewellery division recorded revenue at Rs 6,589 crore in Q3FY21, growing 21.8 per cent compared to corresponding period and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 7.3 per cent to Rs 752 crore on year-on-year basis.
"There was a significant recovery in the diamond-studded segment of the jewellery business. While coins sales continue to remain high, the wedding jewellery segment also witnessed a very good growth in the quarter," said Titan.
At the operating level, Titan reported a 16.7 per cent year-on-year growth in EBITDA at Rs 858 crore and margin contracted 10 bps to 11.8 per cent in the third quarter compared to the year-ago period.
"The recovery witnessed has been significantly better than what we had hoped just a few months back. We believe the focus on productivity and cash generation will help improve the company's margins in the future," said Titan Co managing director C K Venkataraman.
The company's retail chain (including CaratLane) stood at 1,854 stores as of December 2020 with a retail area crossing 24 lakh square feet for all its brands covering 292 towns.