Titan Company has said that its revenue growth for the quarter, and consequently for the year, has been impacted severely because of the coronavirus pandemic crisis.

It said that the company is working out a strategy to manage the crisis, with a particular focus on ensuring adequate liquidity is available till normalcy returns.

In a notice to the BSE, the company said that the cost will be a major focus area for the company in these trying times. “In the early stages of the coronavirus epidemic, it was thought that the epidemic might be restricted to China, and therefore the concern was essentially on supply chain disruptions. However, as the epidemic spread, and WHO announced it as a pandemic, sales started dipping sharply in March, particularly in the watches segment,” the statement said.

Shopping malls were also ordered to be closed in early March in some States. In this difficult period, considering the interest of all of its stakeholders has been the priority of the company. For the safety of the employees, the company adopted a ‘work from home’ policy across all its offices starting from March 17.

All stores were closed on March 22 during the Janata Curfewand they are closed after the nationwide lockdown, which was announced by Prime Minister Modi, from midnight of March 24.

Titan, in line with its commitment to the interest of all its stakeholders, is reaching out to all associates, vendors and other business partners to ensure that they are capable of managing the crisis, and also ensuring salaries are paid in time to all the employees, both direct and indirect. The company is also ensuring that there are no disruptions in payments to vendors, particularly MSMEs.

Change in management

Ravi Kant, CEO of Watches, retired on March 31, 2020, after serving the company for 32 years. Suparna Mitra who was Head of Sales & Marketing of Watches and has spent 20 years in the company, has been appointed as CEO of the division.

Sandeep Kulhalli, Sr. VP Sales and Marketing of the Jewellery division, also retired on March 31, and is being succeeded by Arun Narayan, who has also been a long time Titanian.

Jewellery revenue for the division declined by 5 per cent due to lost sales in the month of March. The revenue growth of January and February was at about 16.5 per cent. The diamond-studded activation in the quarter did well, and wedding jewellery sales continued to be good till the disruption.

During the year, the division added 40 Tanishq stores, 1 Zoya store and 8 Mia stores for the year to date on a net basis, with the retail space addition being ~151,000 sq/ft.

Performance by different divisions

The Watches & Wearables division grew by 1 per cent, despite the significant loss of sales in the month of March.

E-commerce was the fastest-growing channel for both Q4 and a full year. Retail sales in large format stores or LFS (Shop-in-Shops) also grew, aided by the Valentine activation sales and new product introductions.

Eyewear growth was difficult for the division in the quarter, primarily due to decline in trade channel, but the disruption in March, led to a 20 per cent decline in revenues for the quarter, the statement said.

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