Titan Industries'' quarter one net profit triples on sales growth of 48 per cent

Titan Industries has clocked record performances during the first quarter of the financial year with the net profit zooming to Rs12.64 crore for the first quarter in 2007-08, three times the net profit of the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Income from operations went up to Rs666.59 crore during the current year from Rs449.92 crore during the corresponding period last year, and the company's profit before taxes increased nearly five times to Rs25.36 crore compared to Rs5.26 crore last year. Capital employed at Rs579.23 crore at the end of the first quarter of the current year is also lower by Rs12.66 crore, compared to March 31, 2007. All the divisions of the company have performed well.

Watch segment grew by about 15 per cent, with sales income increasing from Rs148.68 crore during the first quarter of last year to Rs170.92 crore during the corresponding period this year. The jewellery segment grew significantly with sales income increasing from Rs288.25 crore during the first quarter of last year to Rs472.85 crore during this year. The company's other products segment that include Eyewear, Precision Engineering, Machine Building and Clocks grew their sales by over 71 per cent from Rs13.56 crore during the first quarter of last year to Rs23.24 crore this year.

The company's recent retail initiatives — GoldPlus jewellery stores for the mass market and Titan Eye+ eyewear stores for the prescription eyewear market are showing promising sales. While GoldPlus stores are present in 12 semi-urban towns, Titan Eye+ is being piloted in five stores across Bangalore and Nagpur.