In its announcement of three & nine months ended on December 31, 2022, Goldiam's 9MFY23 numbers demonstrate the company's inherent strength to protect its profitability. Goldiam on several counts shows resilience, witnessing an order inflow of $2mn during Black Friday week via e-commerce platforms, registering a growth of 30% YoY. Of the Total orders received, lab-grown jewellery accounted for ~40% of the total value.
For 9MFY23, Goldiam remained focused on profitability by further improving the product mix favouring lab-grown diamonds and paring down inventory in stock. Goldiam records strong sales via US e-commerce platforms on Black Friday Week. Goldiam has been focusing on unit economics on the customer end where in it can mitigate inflationary pressure to a certain extent.
Against 15-20% share in FY22, the percentage of Lab-grown has been consolidating to 25% since the beginning of FY23. This share is expected to improve further as the market for Lab-Grown diamonds is projected to grow even faster. As of 9MFY23, Goldiam has an order book size of ₹ 1,500 mn. This order book is expected to be executed in the next four-six months. E-Commerce sales are not part of the order book, given their nature of being booked online on a spot basis.
Rashesh Bhansali, Executive Chairman of Goldiam International, commenting on the performance, said, "The Story so far among developed economies in CY22 has been recorded inflation. Major central banks worldwide have taken measures to cool down inflation with rate hikes in interest. This has certainly led to softening in discretionary spending among consumers. However, so far in CY23, we are witnessing early signs of inflation abetting and our Black Friday sale was an early indication of demand returning. We have been continuously evolving and expanding in the Lab-grown diamond jewellery segment. Lab-grown jewellery market has been consistently rising to give us more impetus to grow. Moreover, the Indian Government in its latest budget acknowledged the need for a growing lab-grown diamond industry providing a shot in the arm for players like us.
Our investment in Lab-grown diamond facilities continues to reap fundamental benefits. Being a wholly integrated player, from growing diamonds to listing online and delivering them, we have gathered a lot of inherent benefits that make us highly margin resilient. The journey of Lab-grown has been accomplishing new milestones for the Company and provides us with exciting headroom to grow. Awareness among domestic consumers is rising for Lab-grown diamond jewellery, and management is evaluating various omnichannel strategies to make an early breakthrough in the domestic market."
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished