Kalyan Jewellers India Limited saw continued robust momentum in both footfalls and revenue across all its markets in India and Middle East in Q2 FY 2022. There has been a greater acceptance of the 'new normal', leading to increased walk-ins and more time spent at the showrooms by customers.
The company witnessed revenue growth of ~60% for its India operations during the recently concluded quarter, as compared to the same period in the previous year. This was despite the fact that there were lockdown-related disruptions in showroom operations in one of the key states, Kerala. Company's showrooms in Kerala resumed operations fully by the second week of August.
The company continued to witness robust growth in the share of new customers during the quarter, driven largely by the shift from the unorganised to the organised segment. Non south markets recorded a higher same store sales growth of ~70% compared to south markets which recorded same store sales growth of ~40%. This differential was predominantly due to the temporary closure of showrooms in Kerala during the recent quarter. The overall same store sales growth in India during the quarter was ~50%.
The overall revenue growth in India has been more broad-based across geographies, driven largely by the fact that 8 of the 10 newly opened showrooms in the current financial year were launched in south India. Non-south markets recorded a revenue growth of ~70% and south markets recorded a growth of ~60%.
Gross margin for the current quarter improved versus the prior quarter, driven largely by the increase in the studded mix. Our studded share saw a meaningful growth, driven by introduction of updates to its existing collections and a return to normalcy in the amount of time spent by customers at our showrooms, providing better opportunities for upselling.
During the quarter, 92% of the showrooms were operational compared to 88% during the same period in the previous year. However, as of September 30, 2021 100% of the showrooms were operational.
The company opened one new showroom during the quarter taking the total stores opened during the first half of the current financial year to 10.
In the Middle East, the company witnessed a significant improvement in customer sentiment during the quarter, resulting in revenue growth of ~60% as compared to the same quarter during the prior year, despite the travel restrictions between India and the region for most of the recently concluded quarter. The growth was largely same store sales driven since we did not add any showroom in the region during the last 12 months.
The online jewellery platform, Candere, recorded a revenue growth of ~45% during the quarter, compared to the same period during the last year.
Given the continued easing of COVID-19 related restrictions as well as a return of the buoyancy in consumer sentiments across the markets in which the company operates, it has commenced campaigns targeted at the upcoming festival / wedding season. The company continues to be encouraged by the trends that is seen related to the underlying operating performance, and believe the pace of demand recovery has exceeded what it experienced during the prior year.
The details provided above are provisional and subject to limited review by the statutory auditors.
Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India Limited was last trading in BSE at Rs. 70.75 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 72.20. The total number of shares traded during the day was 116101 in over 1100 trades.
The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 72.50 and intraday low of 70.40. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 8310414.00.