Titan loses some glitter

Yesterday, late evening, Titan published its quarterly update for Q1FY19 and it was not good news. The company stated that its jewellery sales to be impacted during the Q1 due to decline in gold imports. The company has stated, “The jewellery industry has been going through a significant soft patch in the first 5 months of CY 2018 as evidenced in the decline of imports of gold by 39% in volume terms. This is primarily led by decline in demand for bullion and to some extent by weak demand for adornment during the period. Channel checks have also corroborated the view that, while Akshaya Tritiya day itself had decent sales, the remainder of quarter witnessed a significant decline compared to the previous year. The weakness in the consumer sentiment has had an impact on our sales also leading to recording of sales below our internal targets.”

A high base last year and a one-off impact of Rs 250 crore sales getting advanced in anticipation of higher GST are also likely to impact the June quarter.

On the other hand, the watch division had a great quarter on the back of good growth in modern retail formats as well as ecommerce. Its eye wear as well as fragrance business also clocked in a good show for Q1.

This has not gone down too well with the market as Titan is currently the top loser on the BSE, down almost 6% at Rs.836.40, its present intra day low point. Its 52-week low is at Rs.522 and high at Rs.1006.