Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which owns and operates retail chain D-Mart, on Saturday reported an increase of 52.56 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 413.87 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 271.28 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago, Avenue Supermart’s said in a BSE filing.
Its revenue from operations during January-March 2021 was up 18.47 per cent to Rs 7,411.68 crore, against Rs 6,255.93 crore in the year-ago period.
Avenue Supermarts” total expenses were at Rs 6,916.24 crore, up 16.09 per cent as against Rs 5,957.53 crore a year ago.
On a standalone basis, Avenue Supermarts’ net profit was up 51.62 per cent to Rs 434.95 crore, against Rs 286.87 crore of the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.
Its revenue from operations on a standalone basis during the quarter was at Rs 7,303.13 crore, up 17.92 per cent in comparison to Rs 6,193.53 crore a year ago.
However, for the financial year 2020-21, Avenue Supermarts” net profit was down 15.5 per cent at Rs 1,099.43 crore. It was Rs 1,300.98 crore in the previous year.
Its revenue from operations in the fiscal was down 2.92 per cent to Rs 24,143.06 crore. It was Rs 24,870.20 crore in 2019-20.
Avenue Supermarts CEO & Managing Director Neville Noronha said the financial year 2020-21 has been a challenging year for D-Mart business as the year began amid a strict lockdown post the emergence of COVID-19.
The economy gradually opened after May 2020 and the second half of the year was progressing towards recovery.
“During 2020-21, we have seen a degrowth across our key financial parameters of revenue, Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) and PAT (profit after tax),” he said.
The sales mix has also seen a shift towards grocery and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) products.
“Sales from general merchandise and apparel formed 22.90 per cent of our total revenue for the year as compared to 27.31 per cent in the previous year,” Noronha said.
This is a result of consumer preference of need-based essential goods shopping for a significant period during the year, reduced discretionary spending and significant restrictions on selling non-essentials during the early part of the year.
“This has also impacted our margins during the year. However, fourth quarter margins did indicate a revival of discretionary spends not seen in previous three quarters,” he added.
Over the addition of new stores, Noronha said its construction activity was impacted during the first half of the year.
“We gradually commenced our store construction activity from the second half of the year and opened 22 new stores during the year,” he said.
As of March 31, 2021, Avenue Supermarts was operating 234 operating stores with a total retail business area of 8.82 mn sq ft. PTI
