Strong Holiday Sales Buoy Titan

RAPAPORT... Revenue and profit at Titan Company rose in the third fiscal quarter, driven by strong sales during the Diwali festival and wedding season in India.Consolidated sales - including subsidiaries - increased 10% year on year to INR 65.5 billion ($919.9 million) in the three months ending December 31, while profit climbed 15% to INR 4.74 billion ($66.6 million), the Indian jeweler said Tuesday. Jewelry sales grew 12% during the quarter, outweighing a 2% drop in watch revenue.The festival of Diwali took place on October 27, while Dussehra fell on October 8. As it's a popular time for consumers to purchase jewelry, the third fiscal quarter is an important sales period for Indian retailers. Additionally, October and November are considered auspicious months for weddings, providing an extra boost to jewelry sales. Those occasions offset slower traffic in December."The growth we saw during the festival period of October and November was very encouraging," said Titan managing director C.K. Venkataraman. "The month of December witnessed a drop in footfall across all our retail formats compared to the previous two months, and hence the sales were muted. The retail growth for our jewelry business was healthy...on account of a good wedding season."Revenue for the nine months ending December 31 increased 10% to INR 164.52 billion ($2.31 billion), while profit for the period rose 11% to INR 11.5 billion ($161.4 million).The company plans to launch a range of new jewelry products in its fourth fiscal quarter in an effort to increase sales, it noted.Titan, which claims to be India's largest jewelry retailer, opened 135 stores during the first nine months of the fiscal year, giving it 1,709 stores around the country.Image: A pair of earrings from Titan's Tanishq brand. (Titan)