Titan Industries Net Profit up 88.2%

Titan Industries reported that its second quarter Net Profit has jumped up by 88.2%. The company reported its net profit increased to Rs87.14cr from Rs46.30cr in same quarter previous year.

The Company registered an increase of 52.4% in its income which was Rs1,104.85cr as compared to Rs725.11cr, during the corresponding period last year.

The groups’s core businesses-Watches and Jewellery, have grown significantly over the previous year, the company said in a statement.

The Company’s Watch sales grew by 18.8% with its income increasing from Rs255.34cr during the second quarter of last year to Rs303.45cr in second quarter of 2008.

While the Jewellery income grew by 71.4% to Rs752.18cr versus Rs438.84cr in same period previous year. The spurt in jewellery income was also due to the increase in gold price during the quarter, the company said.

“We have had a significant expansion in the network. Despite high volatility in gold prices, the Tanishq and Gold Plus showrooms continue to attract discerning customers who value our products and service offerings. We will be launching a number of new collections in watches, jewellery and eyewear categories during the coming festival season,” said MD of Titan Industries, Bhaskar Bhat.

The group’s other businesses grew by 93.7% from Rs17.62cr during the quarter in 2007 of last year to Rs34.13cr during the corresponding period this year.

The company said in a statement that the first half of the current year has shown good growth and its Net profit has jumped by 102.5%, from Rs58.94cr during last year to Rs119.36cr this year.

Watch sales have grown over 12% to Rs475.34cr and Jewellery sales have grown by 51% to Rs1,367.90cr compared to last year. Total sales are also reported to be up by 38.2% from Rs1,391.70cr during last year to Rs1,923.91cr this year.

Gold still on the back foot: Standard Bank

“Gold is still on the back foot. With more dollar strength in the pipeline, the yellow metal is putting up little resistance,” said a Standard Bank report on Wednesday.

On MCX, the December contract for gold was trading at (14:54 IST) Rs12,188, down by about 1.5% from its day’s high of Rs12,317 on Wednesday.

MCX Gold December gold prices plunged to Rs12,307 levels and settled at Rs12,377 levels on Tuesday.

“Market is expected to come down and the next supports can be seen at Rs12,200 and then Rs12,050 levels,” said a Karvy Comtrade report on Wednesday.

The report also mentioned that the resistances can be seen at Rs12,400 and then at Rs12,436 levels. “If market sustains below Rs12,436 we may expect gold trading lower. We recommend taking short positions for the day,” it added.

The Standard Bank report also mentioned that after a steady opening just below $800 in Tokyo, gold moved gradually south as the euro weakened. At $790, some stops were triggered, and the metal quickly fell to $785, it said.

“With the dollar still on the rise, gold could remain under pressure today. Primary support is at $757, and a secondary support band at $742 - $720. Resistance is at $794, $810 and $818,” it said.

WGC, HDFC Bank tie up to extend personal loans

World Gold Council (WGC) has got-together with HDFC Bank to offer personal loans for gold buyers. The step taken is in effort to boost gold sales in India. The service is expected to be launched across the country over next few days.

HDFC will provide personal loans at an interest rate of 16%. In place of security against the loan the bank will keep back the purchased gold on behalf of the customers until the entire cost is paid back to the bank. Starting three months from the date of purchase the consumer can pay the entire amount of loan in installments.

Initially the bank will provide loans for up to 50gm of pure gold but plans to provide loans for bigger investors too in the future.

Sona Swiss unveils 'Gifts in Gold' collection for Diwali

Sona Swiss unveiled 'Gifts in Gold' for Diwali. The new range launched is a diverse collection of products in 24 karat gold foil made with unique 3D technology.

The range includes Divine Collection, Flower Garland, Gold foil playing cards, Art décor frames and new range of gold flower collections and lots more.

The 24 karat gold foil art décor products range are handcrafted and have been specially designed and created using traditional goldsmith's skill combined with the latest patented 3D Art Technology.

‘The Divine collection’ includes 3D frames of Ganesha, Laxmi, Saraswati, Durga, Ganesh-Laxmi Pair, Ganesh-Laxmi-Saraswati Trio, Balaji, Shreenathji and Radha Krishna while the ‘Gold flower collection’ includes 24k gold rose, 24k gold carnation, flower brooch/ hair accessory collection, bouquet, 24k gold foil pendants and 24k gold cards.

All the products are made of pure 24 carat Gold leaf with a purity of 999.9 in a thousand. The company has also been independently certified for their gold purity by the Assay offices in London and New York.

All the gold products are also certified from Taiwan, USA and the gold foil products are patented for designing and manufacturing. All gold materials used by the company are of high purity and are imported from Switzerland.