Titan Company Limited, in a quarterly update to the stock exchanges, said that the Company had achieved strong revenue growth for the third consecutive financial year for FY 2018-19, continuing “the good growth momentum of the past few years”.  This, the Company noted, demonstrated the strength of its strategies and execution capabilities.

“Growth has now become broadbased across divisions, reflecting our ability to adapt & recraft according to market needs and creating strong value propositions for our customers by raising standards across the value chain - design, manufacturing, supply chain, branding, retailing , sales etc.,” Titan stated.

In FY 2018-19, the Company launched many products and collections across various  categories and brands. As a result, Titan said,  it had hit “several revenue milestones”; and   won several awards and accolades, as well.

“The investments in Digital initiatives continued and the year saw the setting up of the Design Excellence Centre and the Corporate Business group to focus on institutional sales,” the Company divulged.  

The various initiatives taken by the Company  led to its sales increasing  by around 21% in FY 2018-19.

Titan’s star division, jewellery, grew by little over 22% and this increase was along  “expected lines”, the Company said.

“Our business has done well despite the slow growth in the industry on the back of each of the six pillars of the strategy fueling growth, leading to market share gain,” Titan noted.

Tanishq received the "Red Dot: Best of the Best" award for innovative laser cut tube jewellery, a prestigious  and coveted award in the world in the field of Product Design.   

In FY 2018-19, Tanishq  added a record number of new stores, primarily in towns in central India. “The division added 40 Tanishq stores and closed 5, for the year, with the net retail space addition being approximately 90,000 sq. ft.,” Titan reported.

Further, Caratlane, a fairly recently acquired subsidiary of the Company, continued “to aggressively open its retail stores in line with its omni-channel strategy”, in order to take   benefit of  brand  awareness amongst consumers. Caratlane achieved a growth of around 42% in FY 2018-19.

“In order to capitalise Caratlane adequately, the Company has invested Rs 100 crores in the subsidiary by subscribing to 30,48,780 additional shares, thereby increasing its stake from 66.39% to 69.74%,” Titan divulged.

The company’s Watches division enjoyed a   revenue increase of around 16% y-o-y. This was again,   led by the launch of “exciting products and refreshing collections” across brands, Titan said. Its e-commerce channel has been the biggest growth driver for the division during the year.

The Watches division had entered the  Smart Products category two years back, in order to capitalise on  the fast growth in this category.   “Smart Products including wearables grew at a high rate of 80%+, crossing the milestone of sales of INR 100 crore  in the financial year, leading the Company to reach the number 2 spot in Indian wearable market,” Titan said. “Accessories also crossed the INR 100 crore  mark in the fiscal. Helios continued to be the fastest growing offline channel for the division.”

The Watches division added 30 WOT stores and closed 24, added 22 Fastrack stores while closing 14 and for Helios added 12 stores while closing four  stores during the year.

The Eye Wear division also performed well, ending the year with a revenue growth of around 23 % y-o-y. The division added 74 stores during the year and also closed 30 stores ending up with a net increase of about 28,000 sq. feet of retail space.

Titan counts the perfumes and 'special occasion ethnic wear' amongst its new businesses. The forme,r under the brand name ‘Skinn’; and the latter, under the name ‘Taneira’. Both continued to progress well in the period under review and increased their influence. Taneira is now geared for calibrated expansion in FY'20.”

Like all other large companies, Titan too has a keen  focus on  Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibility, with various programmes in place.

“Taking advantage of our business momentum, we will be increasing the pace of our network rollout which will further aid us in dominating our markets,” the Company averred. “With our eyes set on FY 23 ambition, the Company is further increasing its capabilities, working on synergies amongst the businesses by integrating some more functions across the divisions by creating centres of excellence. Strong momentum driven by underlying strengths developed meticulously over the years and an aggressive network roll out plan, gives us the confidence of targeting around 20% growth in FY 20 despite the muted outlook for the economy.”