Brands
Timex Group India reports 26 per cent Q3 growth as profits triple in FY26
MUMBAI: Timex Group India Limited tightened its grip on the Indian watch market in Q3 FY26, posting robust double-digit growth as premiumisation and brand-led strategy paid off.
The company reported total income of Rs 151 crore for the quarter, with profit before exceptional items and tax tripling year on year, driven by the flagship Timex brand and a buoyant licensed portfolio. Revenue climbed 26 per cent compared with the same period last year, while Ebitda before exceptional items rose 2.23 times and profit before tax before exceptional items surged 3.05 times, signalling sharper operational discipline and healthier margins.
Timex led the charge with 32 per cent growth, while fashion and luxury labels Guess and Versace delivered strong double-digit gains. Other brands posted steady increases.
Digital channels continued to fire, with e-commerce logging high double-digit growth on the back of sharper merchandising and trend-led assortments. Offline trade also held firm, reflecting resilient consumer demand and retailer confidence.
Timex Group India Limited managing director Deepak Chhabra, said the market was shifting decisively towards premium, design-driven and lifestyle watches. He pointed to the India launch of Aston Martin Watches, the expansion of luxury and fashion lines, and higher-value Timex collections such as the Atelier range as key growth drivers.
The quarter also saw rising demand for mechanical watches and global collaborations including MM6, Monopoly and The James Brand. New launches across Q Timex, Marlin, Waterbury, Fria and Vector sustained strong traction.
On the brand-building front, Timex became title sponsor of India Beach Fashion Week in Goa, underlining its growing fashion credentials. The company also scaled manufacturing capacity to around 10 million units annually through a double-shift model to support future growth.
For the first nine months of FY26, total income reached Rs 565 crore, up 40 per cent year on year, while profit before exceptional items and tax grew 2.3 times. E-commerce, including quick commerce, surged 70 per cent, while trade channels expanded 25 per cent. Timex clocked the highest growth at 52 per cent, with Guess and Versace rising 36 per cent.
With rising aspirations and stronger appetite for global brands, Timex Group India said it would continue accelerating premium offerings, strengthening omnichannel reach and deepening consumer engagement.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
