Kalyan Jewellers eyes expansion through franchise model to reduce debt

Business Standard

2 days ago

Jewellery retailer Kalyan Jewellers plans to open 170 stores through a franchise model in domestic and overseas markets this fiscal, which will help reduce its debt liabilities, a senior company official has said.
As of June 30, 2025, Kalyan Jewellers' total showrooms across India and the Middle East stood at 406 (Kalyan India - 287, Kalyan Middle East - 36, Kalyan USA - 2, Candere - 81), according to a regulatory filing.
"We are planning to open 170 showrooms in 2025-26, of which 90 will be Kalyan, and of these, seven will be overseas - UK, US and Middle East. We are also looking at opening 80 stores under our lifestyle jewellery brand Candere.
"The domestic expansion will be across non-south markets, including tier I, II, III and IV markets through the franchise model. Going forward, the company will expand through the franchise model and will use the excess cash to reduce debt," Kalyan Jewellers Executive Director Ramesh Kalyanaraman told PTI.
Going forward, the company will expand through a franchise model and will use the excess cash to reduce its debt, he added.
"Last year, we reduced Rs 400 crore debt, and this year we are planning to reduce it further by Rs 300 crore, primarily targeting our Gold Metal Loan (GML) liabilities, which will make the company's balance sheet lighter. We have land parcel collaterals mortgaged with banks for this overdraft facility. When we reduce debt, our collateral comes out, which can be further brought into the system that will make our balance sheet lighter," he noted.
The Thrissur-headquartered company has a capex of around Rs 350-400 crore for maintenance and inventory for this financial year, Kalyanaraman said.
"As the expansion is through franchises, we don't have to invest. Our capex for maintenance and inventory for this financial year is around Rs 350-400 crore," he stated.
About plans on Candere, Kalyanaraman said, currently, the company is focusing on domestic expansion of its lifestyle jewellery brand.
"For Candere, our focus will be India, besides this store in Dubai, which will open in the next quarter. We need the brand to stabilise in the domestic market and then chalk out expansion plans outside of India, which will be around 2027-28," he added.
On the overall overseas expansion plans, he said Kalyan Jewellers will enter the UK this fiscal.
"Our overseas expansion will be focused on the US, UK and the Middle East till next fiscal. We are getting inquiries from countries like Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore, having a large Indian diaspora; however, our overseas expansion will be very calibrated," he said.
On Manufacturing, he said the company has contract manufacturers, and as of now, it is focused on front-end retailing.
"We are working on improving the back-end and developing the roadmap for strengthening the back-end that will include setting up a contract manufacturing hub in Thrissur before the end of this financial year. We have acquired land for this purpose that will bring together our contract manufacturers under one place in the city," the director said.
"Currently, we have over 1,000 contract manufacturers across the country." About the company's revenue expectation this fiscal, he said the expansion is on track, which will give Kalyan Jewellers a market share growth. Monsoon is also good this year. The same store sales for the past 8-9 quarters are seeing double-digit growth, and there is a tailwind for the organised segment, he pointed out.
"Therefore, all put together, we are very optimistic going forward," he added.
The company had reported consolidated net revenue of Rs 5,557.63 crore in the first quarter (April-June) of the 2025-26.
On market share expectations, he said market share grows every year in the range of over 1 per cent for Kalyan.
The company's current market share in the organised segment is around 8-9 per cent, Kalyanaraman added.