Titan Company Ltd, the parent company of India’s largest jewellery retailer Tanishq,  reported  “an exceptional growth in profits” on a  marginal (0.1%) decline   in net income in the second quarter (July to September 2016) of FY 2016-17.

For Q2 FY 2016-17 , Titan’s total income  amounted to Rs.2659.83 crore, as compared to  Rs. 2662.52 crore  earned in the same period of the previous year.   The income for the first half (April to September 2016) of the current financial year, amounted to Rs. 5466.14 crore, marking  a growth of 2.1% over last year.

Titan reported a respectable increase of 23.5% in its  net profit for Q2 FY 2016-17,  which  rose to  Rs.180.76 crore  from Rs.146.35 crore achieved  in the same period of the previous year.    Net profit for the six months ended September 30, 2016 stood at Rs. 307.45 crore after the exceptional item of Rs 99.86 crore.  “The profit before tax and exceptional item is Rs. 250.39 crore for Q2, a growth of 36.9% and Rs. 521.03 crore for the first half, a growth of 34.5%,” the Company reported. “This was possible due to decent improvement in gross margin and the benefits of the cost control programme undertaken by the company.”

Titan’s  jewellery business had an extremely successful   second quarter and recorded an income of Rs. 1987.51 crore  for the period as compared to Rs. 1982.72 crore  last year. “Performance of the diamond studded jewellery segment was much better than plain gold segment,” the Company  said. “The Watches division continues to exhibit a decent performance in the domestic market but the overall business declined due to lack of growth in some of its International markets as well as its service business which went through re-structuring.”

The income of the  Watches segment for the quarter amounted to  Rs. 523.69 crore as compared to  Rs. 552.45 crore  garnered  in the same period of the previous year, marking a decline of 5.2%.

While the  Eyewear business grew by 6.6% in the quarter, earning an income of Rs. 95.19 crore  as against Rs. 89.33 crore  in the previous   year; other businesses of the Company comprising Precision Engineering, a B2B business and accessories grew by 20% in Q2.   The combined income of these businesses for the second quarter amounted  to Rs. 72.91 crore, as compared   to Rs. 60.77 crore earned in the same period of the previous year.

Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director of the Company commented:  “This was an extremely good quarter for the Company with respect to profits. All businesses of the company recorded profits in the quarter. The Jewellery business had an extremely good studded jewellery activation and the Watches business launched its second smart watch, Juxt Pro. All our retail channels grew. The festive season has commenced very well. For the Dussehra to Diwali festive period, Tanishq registered a growth of 39% over last year. In watches, for the same period, our World of Titan stores grew by 14% and Helios stores by 11% in retail sales.”

The Titan Company retail chain has, as of September 30, 2016, a total of  1,316 stores, with a retail area of over  1.75 million sq.ft. nationally for all its brands.