Joyalukkas IPO Deferred Due to Poor Market Conditions, ‘Several Small Factors’, Says MD

Joyalukkas India, a jewellery chain from Kerala, deferred its Rs 2,300 crore initial public offering planned for this year, the second time the company has postponed a share sale after filing documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. In 2011, it had filed for a Rs 650 crore IPO and had shelved it.

Alukkas Varghese Joy, managing director of Joyalukkas, attributed the latest change in plan to poor market conditions, shifting of offices, and the company’s better performance, and indicated the IPO may take place in FY24.

“We have shelved the IPO because of several small factors. We feel the market conditions are not that favourable. Besides, we have done better in the last one year and our numbers have improved. We also are in the process of shifting some offices in India,” Joy told Moneycontrol.

The benchmark BSE Sensex has returned 4.33 percent in the past year.

Joy said with improved figures, the company may apply again for the IPO.

“We can’t comment on the IPO amount now. We would like it to happen in FY24,” he said.

Joy said the decision had nothing to do with the fluctuation in gold prices, which reached a new high of Rs 57,930 per 10 gm last month before dropping as the US Federal Reserve decided to increase interest rates further.

According to Joy, all gold companies in India performed well in 2022, with demand remaining strong despite high prices. “Overall gold consumption has increased in the country,” he said.

Global gold demand rose 18 percent in 2022 over the previous year to 4,741 tonnes with a strong performance in the fourth quarter, according to the World Gold Council. Jewellery consumption dropped 3 percent to 2,086 tonnes.

The council said Indian consumer demand was robust and fell just shy of the strong demand levels of 2021 because of a sharp local price rally in the closing weeks of December.

Joyalukkas will accelerate its expansion plans in India after a slowdown in the past couple of years because of the pandemic. The company had proposed to spend Rs 463.9 crore from the IPO proceeds to open eight showrooms.

“We plan to open around 10 showrooms in India this year, mostly in the northern parts of the country,” Joy said.

The company has 85 showrooms in India and about 45 overseas, mostly in West Asia. Joyalukkas reported a net profit of Rs 473 crore in FY21.

Kalyan Jewellers, another Kerala-based jeweller, successfully completed a Rs 1,175 crore IPO two years ago.

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