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
KPMG names Gary Wingrove as global chairman and CEO from October
Record Gmada bids signal rising demand as Rs 1,000 crore bet reshapes Tricity skyline
MUMBAI: KPMG has chosen continuity with a forward tilt. The firm has announced that Gary Wingrove will take over as global chairman and CEO of KPMG International, beginning a four year term from 1 October 2026. Currently serving as global chief operating officer, Wingrove steps into the top role after being nominated by the global board and elected by the global council.
A KPMG veteran with over 25 years at the firm, Wingrove has been closely involved in shaping its recent trajectory. As global COO, he has helped drive the firm’s Collective Strategy, focusing on operational integration, global investments and the steady expansion of the KPMG Delivery Network. He has also been at the forefront of KPMG’s digital push, including the rollout of AI enabled solutions across its global operations.
Before his global role, Wingrove served as CEO of KPMG Australia for nearly a decade, where he led a period of strong growth, almost doubling revenue, profitability and headcount while steering a cultural reset.
He succeeds Bill Thomas, who has led KPMG since 2017 and will work alongside Wingrove over the next six months to ensure a smooth transition.
Thomas leaves behind a firm that looks markedly different from when he took charge. Under his leadership, KPMG’s global revenues have risen by 55 per cent, and its workforce has expanded to more than 276,000 people. He also unified the network of member firms under the Collective Strategy, aligning priorities and strengthening governance.
His tenure saw heavy investment in technology and partnerships, with alliances spanning Microsoft, Google Cloud, SAP, Oracle and ServiceNow. These collaborations, along with platforms like KPMG Clara, have helped the firm scale its AI-led offerings and sharpen its competitive edge.
Beyond growth, Thomas also pushed improvements in audit quality and sustainability. Initiatives such as a multiyear global sustainability strategy and the Our Impact Plan have aimed to embed long term thinking into the firm’s operations and client services.
For Wingrove, the brief is clear but evolving. He has signalled a focus on agility, deep expertise and technology driven solutions as clients navigate an increasingly complex business landscape. He also emphasised KPMG’s identity as a people first organisation, supported by technology and unified through its global network.
The timing of the leadership change comes as KPMG continues to grow, reporting a 5.1 per cent rise in global revenue in FY25, with gains across tax and legal, audit and advisory services. Growth was recorded across all regions, despite a challenging macro environment.
As Wingrove prepares to take charge, the firm appears set on a familiar path with a sharper digital edge. Same playbook, perhaps, but with a renewed focus on speed, scale and smarter solutions.
