Titan Company net down 14%; plans to buy stake in jewellery e-tailer Caratlane

Tata Group firm Titan Company Ltd has reported a 14.4% decline in net profit to Rs 184.11 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015-16, mainly due to lower sales. 

The company had reported net profit of Rs 215.09 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15.

n Friday, after announcing the company's results, the Tata Group company said that it will be picking up stake in the Chennai-based online jewellery retailer Caratlane. Titan owns the jewellery brand Tanishq. 

Titan's net sales fell by 1.5% to Rs 2,437.15 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 2,474.43 crore in the year-ago period.

"The financial year as well as the last quarter of 2015-16 was an extremely challenging one for the company...on account of weak market conditions for all businesses and new regulatory restrictions for the jewelery business... Weak consumer sentiment had an impact on retail sales across all businesses," Titan said.

For 2015-16, Titan reported net profit of Rs 705.85 crore compared with Rs 823.07 crore in the previous year.

Titan's net sales in the year ended March 31, 2016, stood at Rs 11,176.9 crore as against Rs 11,791.04 crore in the previous fiscal year.

The company's stock closed at Rs 364.10, up 1.31%, on BSE.

Much details about the Caratlane deal aren't known yet, including the financial details, however Titan has said that the deal may close later this year.