Titan Company Ltd Q3 FY24 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from Titan Company Ltd (TITAN) Q3 FY24 Earnings Concall

• Jewelry Business
  • Tanishq sales growth slowed in Q3 due to timing of Shradh festival between Q2 and Q3 this year vs last year.
  • Gold price increase in December 2022 led to hesitancy in customer purchases.
  • Margin declined 80 bps in Q3 due to lower studded jewelry sales mix and increased marketing investments.
  • Offered promotions like exchange programs amid high competition to maintain market share.
  • Opened 36 new Tanishq stores in India this fiscal by seizing opportunities; will continue expanding into new towns/markets.
  • Opened fewer CaratLane stores this year after opening 90 last fiscal; more stores planned based on opportunities.
  • Demand in sub-INR100,000 segment stable at portfolio level across Tanishq, CaratLane, Mia.
  • Softness in same-store growth for Tanishq in this segment due to economic challenges for consumers.
• Watch/Eyewear Segment
  • Higher marketing expenses for festive season impacted margins in Q3 in watches.
  • Grew wearables sales to over INR500 cr last year, seeing 70-80% growth this year.
  • Gained market share from 5-6% to 8-9% on styling, quality and marketing campaigns.
  • Wearables mix resulting in lower 11-12% margins vs 13% earlier guidance for next few quarters.
  • In eyewear, growth muted due to industry-wide slowdown Sep-Nov; saw better growth in Dec.
  • Continuing calibrated store expansion by opening 60+ stores while rationalizing underperforming ones.
  • Focusing on making existing 300+ stores profitable after rapid expansion.
• CaratLane and Tanishq
  • CaratLane and Tanishq serve different segments so not directly comparable.
  • Tanishq benefited from gold sales while CaratLane is mainly sub-50k studded.
  • CaratLane added many new stores last year, so some normalization expected.
• Watch Segment Outlook
  • Earlier 18% margin target was ambitious dream based on doubling sales.
  • Revised more realistic target closer to 15-16% margin in next 2 years.
  • Reaching higher sales and margin targets requires significant investments.
• Store Expansion Plans
  • Currently present in 265 towns; see potential to reach 300 towns in next few years.
  • Identifying new catchment areas in existing towns and entering newer towns.
  • Don’t have specific store number target for 3-5 years; will share longer term plans in future.
• Indian Ethnic Wear Growth
  • Overall ethnic wear growth 61% in Q3, 70% YTD with store expansion to 75 by year-end.
  • However, like-for-like growth slower, in line with muted industry trend of negative like-for-like.
  • Apparel industry saw slow like-for-like growth over last 4-5 quarters.
• International Customer Trends
  • Average 2 lakh customers per international store, higher in US than GCC.
  • Returning customer base in international markets leading to some ticket size increases.
  • Bringing Indian franchise partners to international markets like Dubai and Singapore.
• Demand Outlook
  • Titan serves higher income segments less impacted by slowdown.
  • Seeing continued strong growth in jewelry, watches, perfumes, international.
  • Quarterly blips don’t change positive medium-term outlook till FY25-26.
• CaratLane and Mia Positioning
  • Both brands are growing profitably in evolving value segment.
  • Serve different target groups with distinct product mix and branding.
  • Overlap between brands likely small; getting new customers for portfolio.
  • No plans to consolidate the brands given profitable growth.
• Franchise Store Expansion
  • Not dialing up L3 stores; prefer more L2 stores.
  • L3 suited for certain remote markets; L2 more profitable.
  • Expect franchise store mix to remain stable going forward.
  • Balance sheet strong, incremental expansion not constrained.
• Jewelry Growth Outlook
  • Confident of delivering 20% CAGR growth target for jewelry segment.
  • Growth so far in line with target despite exceeding it last year.
  • Don’t see headwinds to achieving FY27 guidance shared earlier.