Brands
Titan’s Q3-2014 higher q-o-q advertising spend helps improve income
BENGALURU: India’s largest specialty retailer, Titan Company (Titan), formerly known as Titan Industries, reported a 25.11 per cent increase in ad spends to Rs 118.04 crore in Q3-2014 as compared to the Rs 94.35 crore during the immediate trailing quarter that resulted in a 15.74 per cent jump in operating income to Rs 2650.46 crore as compared to the Rs 2290.02 crore in Q2-2014.
Titan has three revenue segments – watches with five major brands – Titan, Xylus, Nebula, Sonata and Fastrack; Jewellery (the largest segment in terms of revenue and consequently profits) with Tanishq, Zoya, Gold Plus from Tata, Mia and Fq teen diamonds; and ‘Others’ that include eyewear under the Titan EYE+ brand, apparel and eyewear also under Fastrack brand and precision engineering among others.
Facing a slowdown in the economy along with inflation resulted in weak consumer demand. Titan says that its jewellery segment witnessed a sharp decline in demand. The other factors that affected the jewellery segment’s performance included: average gold price during the quarter was 10 per cent lower than previous year level; RBI’s ban on gold-on-lease facility continues even today; Issues with gold supply in the market persist – premium on gold was above 10 per cent of gold rate in the quarter; Sale of gold coins was discontinued to help the government’s efforts to reduce CAD.
During the nine month period that ended December 31, 2013, Titan’s ad spend was up by 2.13 per cent at Rs 317.06 crore as compared to the Rs 310.46 crore during the corresponding period of last year. Operating revenue for the current nine month period was 8.26 per cent higher at Rs 8028.77 crore as compared to the Rs 7415.92 crore during the corresponding period of last year. Titan had spent Rs 377.09 crore during FY2013.
However, the company’s Q3-2014 operating revenue was 13.64 per cent lower than the Rs 2962.89 crore in Q3-2013. PAT for Q3-2014 at Rs 165.57 crore too was 11.29 per cent lower than the Rs 186.65 crore in Q2-2014 and lower by 18.81 per cent than the Rs 203.92 crore during the corresponding quarter of last year. Its nine month PAT for the current period at Rs 534.70 crore was 1.2 per cent lower than the Rs 540.21 crore during the corresponding period of last year.
Let us look at the percentages of total revenues spent towards advertising by Titan…
Last fiscal (FY2013) Titan spent Rs 377.09 crore or 3.73 per cent of its total revenue of Rs 10112.67 crore.
During the nine month period in the current fiscal, Titan’s ad spend was 3.91 per cent of total revenue of Rs 8112.41 crore, while during the nine month period of the previous fiscal, its ad spend was 4.14 per cent of revenue of Rs 7415.92 crore.
During Q3-2014, Titan spent 4.41 per cent of its total revenue of Rs 2675.77 crore; in Q2-2014, ad spend was 4.05 per cent of total revenue of Rs 2328.97 crore, while in Q3-2013 it spent 3.6 per cent of total revenue of Rs 3017.8 crore.
The watch segment revenue during Q3-2014 at Rs 455.58 crore grew by 2.97 per cent as compared to the Rs 442.36 crore during the immediate trailing quarter and 7.54 per cent more than the Rs 423.53 crore in Q3-2013. The result from this segment at Rs 51.3 crore was 10.49 per cent more than the Rs 46.43 crore from Q2-2014 and 0.29 per cent more than the Rs 51.15 crore in Q3-2013.
Titan’s jewellery segment had revenue of Rs 2126.67 crore for Q3-2014 which was 18.28 per cent higher than the Rs 1798.07 crore in Q2-2014, but 15.45 per cent lower than the Rs 2515.24 crore in Q3-2013. Its result for Q3-2014 at Rs 216.9 crore was 9.96 per cent lower than the Rs 240.89 crore in Q2-2014 and 12.03 per cent lower than the Rs 246.57 crore in Q3-2013.
The ‘Others’ segment of the brand reported revenue of Rs 116.52 crore during Q3-2014 which was 2.15 per cent more than the Rs 114.07 crore in Q2-2014 and 18.58 per cent more than the Rs 98.26 crore in Q3-2013. This segment returned a loss of Rs (-1.68) crore in Q3-2014; loss of Rs (-0.25) crore is Q2-2014 and a profit of Rs 1.7 crore during Q3-2013.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
