Brands
Q1-2016: Titan ad spends up 30% at Rs 128.84 crore
BENGALURU: Titan Company Limited (Titan) spent the highest amount in absolute rupees and in terms of per centage of Total Income from operations (TIO) towards advertisements in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016), during a 14 quarter period that has been considered in this report. The company‘s ad spend in the current quarter at Rs 128.84 crore (4.8 per cent of TIO) was 29.8 per cent more than the Rs 99.25 crore (3.4 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and 60.4 per cent more than the Rs 80.30 crore (3.2 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
Businesses and Brands
Titan has three revenue segments – watches comprising the brands –Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata, Fastrack and Zoop; Jewellery with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; and ‘Other’ such as eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand, apparel and eyewear also under Fastrack brand and precision engineering among others.
Segment Performance
Titan’s watches business in Q1-2016 recorded a growth of 9.1 per cent with income of watches business growing from Rs 444.19 crores to Rs 484.54 crores. The Jewellery income in Q1-2016 was Rs 2072.03 crores as against Rs 2325.27 crores, a decline of 10.9 per cent. The company says that jewellery business continues to face regulatory pressures that have an adverse impact on sales. Titan’s Eyewear business grew by 19.7 per cent from Rs 89.21 crores last year to Rs 106.77 crores in Q1-2016. The company’s other businesses including Precision Engineering grew by 36.3 per cent, to Rs 46.85 crores in the current quarter.
The companys says that it has put together plans to stimulate demand for all its product categories through innovative advertising campaigns and new product launches in the coming quarters.
Retail expansion continued with a net addition of 22 stores across all its businesses in Q1-2016, ending the period with a retail area of over 16.2 lakh square feet nationally. Titan’s retail chain is now 1223 stores strong, as on 30 June, 2015 and is expanding with growth plans in place for all its retail businesses – watches, jewellery and eyewear.
Advertisement spend trends
Please refer to Fig A below. As mentioned above, during the fourteen quarter period starting Q4-2014 until Q1-2016, Titan’s ad spends were the highest in the current quarter, both in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO. Lowest ad spends in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO was in Q4-2103 at Rs 66.63 crore and 2.5 per cent of TIO respectively during the same period.
During the fourteen 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. The company’s TIO in Q1-2016 fell 6.3 per cent to Rs 2708.59 crore as compared to the Rs 2891.44 crore in Q1-2015 but was 8.5 per cent more than the Rs 2496.19 crore in Q4-2015. During the fourteen quarter period under consideration in this report, TIO shows a linear increasing trend a indicated by the broken orange trend line in the figure below.
PAT in Q1-2016 at Rs 151.06 crore (six per cent margin) declined 14.8 per cent as compared to the Rs 177.27 crore (6.1 per cent margin) and was 29.8 per cent lower than the Rs 215.09 crore (9.6 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2015. 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.
Company speak
Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat said, “The first quarter this year has been an extremely challenging one. Retail sales for both our core businesses watches & jewellery, have been below expectations due to reduced walk-ins. May and June, in particular were poor months. Rural demand too was affected due to lower realizations and monsoon conditions. With good monsoon in sight and festive season ahead, we look forward to a better year ahead. ”
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
