Gitanjali to buy Chinese jewelry firm

Looking to expand its global footprint and boost sales,

Gitanjali Gems will acquire a Chinese manufacturing unit and jewelry retail firm by year end. Gitanjali, India’s largest jewelry retailer retails diamond jewelry under the brands Gili, Nakshatra, Asmi and D’Damas. It recently acquired four Italian jewelry brands from Dubai’s Damas International. Gitanjali plans to open a few more stores in the Middle East by March 2012. In India, the company plans to invest Rs 2 billion to add 350 to 400 stores across various retail formats in the current fiscal year. In FY ’11 it opened 300 stores in the country and has added four new Indian diamond jewelry brands to its kitty.

What’s helping the group is that the Indian consumer is moving away from gold towards diamond jewelry, the mainstay of Gitanjali’s product line. The company retails its products through a vast network of over 3,000 points of sale of self-owned and franchised stores. The group has three diamond polishing facilities and nine jewelry manufacturing units in India. Gitanjali Gems has acquired two Italian jewelry companies, Giantti Italia SRL and DIT Group SpA. For FY 2011, the group’s net profit stood at Rs 3.55 billion on net sales of Rs 94.56 billion. The company expects its same-store sales, a key gauge of profitability for retailers, to grow at 30-35 per cent in FY12.