Titan Sees Third-Quarter Growth

RAPAPORT... Titan Company's sales grew in the fiscal third quarter, buoyed bya healthy Diwali season and recent government regulations that favored thejewelry business. Revenue rose 7% year on year to $670.4 million (INR 42.96 billion),while profit for the three months ending December 31 surged 21% to $44 million (INR2.82 billion). All the company's businesses - which include jewelry, watches,sunglasses and optical frames - showed favorable results during the festivalseason, said Bhaskar Bhat, Titan's managing director. He explained that thegovernment decision to exempt thegem and jewelry industry from reporting requirements under the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act (PMLA) had worked to the company's advantage. It alsobenefited from the reduction of the goods and services tax (GST) forwatches, sunglasses and optical frames, he added. Titan's jewelry sales grew 8% to $557.1 million (INR 35.70 billion)during the quarter. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, revenue increased24% to $1.85 billion (INR 118.63 billion), while profits soared 54% to $124.6million (INR 7.98 billion). Titan Company is the largest jewelry retailer in India, with 1,439stores, 166 of which were added over the nine-month period ending December 31.