Titan sees second wave as setback for FY22 biz plans; forecasts good demand

NEW DELHI: Tata Group company Titan has said the second Covid wave proved to be a setback for its FY’’22 business plans that were made with a lot of “ambition, substantial excitement and passion.”

The company, however, said it is moving ahead with “calmness and composure” and is confident of overcoming all the challenges.

In its annual report for FY2021-22, the company said it is expecting that by September 2021, much of the country will be vaccinated, paving the way for some kind of normalcy in business environment.

The company’s business plans for FY2021-22 were made with “a high level of ambition, substantial excitement and passion. The second wave of COVID-19 has come and caused a setback to those plans, but without taking away the medium-term opportunities and the advantages that those plans represented,” its report commented in terms of the outlook of the company for this ongoing fiscal.

It further said that the management is approaching FY’22 with the same calmness and composure like it did in the previous fiscal and “is confident that it will be able to overcome all the challenges that come its way”.

The company, which primarily operates in segments such as watches, jewellery and eyewear, is expecting consumer demand to be “good” in FY’22.

“The economic circumstances of the company’s customers (the upper middle class) are expected to be as good as in FY 2021-22 or perhaps even better, given that virtually all companies are giving out raises to their employees, with its cascading effects on other segments of the population,” the report noted.

Addressing shareholders, Titan MD CK Venkataraman said FY’22 will be another “challenging year” and the company would continue to exercise “prudence” in managing its expenses.