Bata India posted its first quarter earnings of fiscal 23, wherein it recorded a 71.82 percent jump in consolidated net profit to ₹ 119.37 crore, achieving its “highest ever quarterly sales”.
The shoemaker company in the same quarter last year reported ₹ 69.47 crore in net profit, Bata India Ltd said in a BSE filing.
The shoemaker company recorded revenue from operations during the quarter at ₹ 943.01 crore, rising more than three times from ₹ 267.04 crore reported in the corresponding quarter last year.
“A direct outcome of the continued focus on key thrust areas of franchise & MBO expansion, consumer relevant communication, portfolio casualization, and digital footprint expansion was reflected in the quarterly sales reaching a lifetime high,” Bata India said in its earnings statement.
Also, the sales were a translation of increased portfolio and marketing investments. The footfalls across retail outlets grew significantly besides sales coming from digital channels, it added.
The company’s total expenses doubled to ₹ 792.58 crore in Q1FY23 from ₹ 371.61 crore a year ago. “All the cost-focused initiatives, which have been put in place across multiple work streams, are showing increasing impact quarter on quarter,” said Bata India.
MD and CEO Gunjan Shah said over the last nine months, Bata is witnessing a noteworthy growth in sales with increasing demand for fashionable, trendy, and comfortable footwear.
“We continue to expand our reach through new franchise stores and multi-brand outlets. We opened 20-plus new franchise stores taking the total number over 320 with a strong future pipeline, expanded availability via distribution channels that continued to scale up close to 1,100 towns,” said Shah.
At the same time, Bata kept working on driving the volumes in these inflationary times, which should reflect positively on the top line and bottom line in the ensuing period.
“In the face of volatile inflation and geopolitical unrest, we are conscious of our cost efficiencies, and accordingly various cost-savings measures across our network continue to be implemented, which has been reflected in the profitability metrics. We continue to flesh out new opportunities across our value chain, which will help us capture the emerging consumer demand efficiently,” he said.
Outlook:
On the outlook, Shah said: “We continue being optimistic on momentum going ahead driven by innovation via agile product creation, scaling up digital channels, expansion in Tier 3-5 towns, and productivity enhancement along with investments in our brands and stores.”