Brands
Q2-2016: Ad exp down 30.5 percent; watches sales grow, jewellery pulls down Titan’s numbers
BENGALURU: Last quarter (Q1-2016) Titan Company Limited (Titan) spent the highest amount towards advertisement (Ad spend) both in terms of absolute rupees and percentage of Total Income from Operations (TIO) at Rs 128.84 crore and 4.8 percent of TIO. This quarter (quarter ended September 30, 2015, Q2-2016, current quarter), Titan reduced its Ad Exp by 15.4 percent YoY to Rs 89.52 crore (3.3 percent of TIO as compared to Rs 105.83 crore (2.9 percent of TIO) and reduced Ad exp QoQ by 30.5 percent from the figures mentioned above for Q1-2016.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
Segment Performance
Titan has 4 revenue segments – watches having the brands –Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata, Fastrack and Zoop; Jewellery with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; Eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand and ‘Other’ such as precision engineering among others.
Titan’s Jewellery business is its major revenue generating stream that contributes more than 70 percent to the company’s revenue. In the current quarter, jewellery business revenue reduced 32.9 percent (declined by Rs 1,000 crore) YoY to Rs 1,929 crore (72.7 percent net sales) from Rs 2,929 crore (82.2 percent of net sales). The company’s Watches division is the next major division in terms of revenue contribution. Revenues from watches grew 4.4 percent (increased by Rs 23 crore) YoY to Rs 546 crore (20.6 percent net sales) from Rs 523 crore (14.7 percent net sales). Titan explains the reason for the decline in a release that says that retail sentiment has been extremely poor in this quarter and that the watches division, backed by activations for both Titan and Fastrack brands grew in income by 4.4 percent. A new sub-brand ‘SF’ by Sonata in the adventure sports segment was launched during the current quarter.
Titan’s Eyewear business which contributes just 2 to 3 percent to the company’s revenue, reported 14.3 percent (increased by Rs 11 crore) YoY growth in revenue to Rs 88 crore (3.3 percent of TIO) from Rs 77 crore (2.2 percent of TIO). On a YTD basis, (6 months of the current fiscal), Titan says that the decline in profits from this segment is due to higher Sales promotion and Advertising costs in the first quarter.
As a consequence of the huge decline in revenue from Jewellery sales, Titan’s TIO in the current quarter fell 25.6 percent (reduced by Rs 919.59 crore) YoY to Rs 2,673.48 crore from Rs 3,593.07 crore. Net Sales fell 25.5 percent (reduced by Rs 910 crore) YoY to Rs 2655 crore from Rs 3565 crore. Qoq, the TIO decline was much lower at 1.3 percent from Rs 2708.59 crore. QoQ, net sales in the current quarter reduced by 1.2 percent (reduced by Rs 32 crore) as compared to Rs 2,687 crore.
Advertisement spend trends
Please refer to fig A below for Titan’s Ad expenses over a fifteen month period starting Q4-2012 (quarter ended March 31, 2012) until the current quarter.
As mentioned above, during the fifteen quarter period under consideration in this report, Titan’s Ad spends were the highest in the previous quarter (Q1-2016), both in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO. Lowest Ad spends during the same period in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO were in Q4-2103 at Rs 66.63 crore and 2.5 percent of TIO respectively.
During the fifteen quarter period under consideration in this report, Titan’s ad spends show a linear increasing trend in terms of absolute rupees as indicated by the broken blue trend line, while ad spends in terms of percentage of TIO show a slow linear decline as indicated by the broken maroon line in Fig A.
Please refer to Figure B below. As mentioned above, the company’s TIO in Q2-2016 fell 25.2 percent YoY and reduced 1.3 percent QoQ. During the fifteen quarter period under consideration in this report, TIO shows a linear increasing trend as indicated by the broken orange trend line in the figure below.
PAT in Q2-2016 at Rs 145.39 crore (5.8 percent margin) reduced 39.4 percent YoY from Rs 239.98 crore (7.3 percent margin) and reduced 3.8 percent QoQ from Rs 151.06 crore (6 percent margin). PAT in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO (margin) show a linear increasing trend as indicated by the broken military green and broken grey trend lines in the figure below during the fifteen month period under consideration in this report.
Company Speak
Titan Managing Director Bhaskar Bhat said, “This was an extremely challenging quarter for the company and we witnessed an income decline of 25 percent. While our watches business witnessed a growth of low single digit at 4.4 percent the jewellery business had a difficult quarter with a decline over last year. The industry saw a tough period with gold imports declining significantly. The decline in jewellery sales was also on account of discontinuation of our Golden Harvest Scheme. The Eyewear business continues to register double digit growth. All our brands are working on new product and marketing campaigns for the festive season ahead.”
Brands
Maharashtra panel orders Lodha to refund Rs 5 crore to homebuyers
Consumer court flags unfair practices in long-running property dispute case
MUMBAI: In a sharp rebuke to one of India’s biggest real estate players, the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Macrotech Developers to refund nearly Rs 5 crore to a senior citizen couple, Uttam and Anindita Chatterjee. The ruling, delivered on March 13, 2026, calls out the developer for “deficiency in service” and “unfair trade practices”, bringing closure to a dispute that has stretched over a decade.
The case traces back to 2015, when the couple booked a 3-BHK flat at World Towers in Lower Parel for Rs 12.22 crore, with possession promised within a year. What followed was a series of changes that complicated matters. After deciding to exit the project, they were persuaded to shift to a 4-BHK in another development priced at Rs 8 crore, with delivery scheduled for 2018. However, within months, the price was allegedly increased to Rs 10 crore. After demonetisation reshaped the market, similar flats were reportedly being offered at lower prices, but the couple were not given the benefit.
Despite paying over Rs 2.83 crore, the couple neither received possession nor clarity. Instead, in 2018, the developer unilaterally cancelled the booking, retained part of the amount as earnest money, and argued that the buyers were investors rather than consumers. The commission rejected this claim, observing that casual references to “investment” do not take away consumer rights when the purchase intent is residential.
The bench also held that the developer could not penalise buyers for payment delays while failing to meet its own delivery commitments. It noted the lack of formal documentation for revised terms and termed the prolonged retention of funds without delivering a home as exploitative.
As part of its order, the commission directed the developer to refund Rs 2.83 crore paid by the couple, along with interest at 10 per cent per annum, amounting to around Rs 2.12 crore. In addition, Rs 1 lakh has been awarded for mental agony and Rs 50,000 towards litigation costs, taking the total payout to over Rs 5 crore. The developer has been asked to comply within two months.
For now, the ruling serves as a reminder that in real estate, shifting terms and delayed promises can carry a significant cost.
