Avenue Supermarts, the parent company of supermarket chain DMart, reported a 16 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. The Mumbai-based company posted Rs 447 crore net profit during the quarter under review, as opposed to Rs 384 crore in the year-ago period.
Revenue for the period grew to Rs 7,542 crore, 11 per cent higher than Rs 6,808.93 crore registered in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Profit after Tax (PAT) margin stood at 5.9 per cent in Q3FY21 as compared to 5.6 per cent in Q3FY20.
Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) in Q3FY21 stood at Rs 689 crore, as compared to Rs 597 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. EBITDA margin stood at 9.1 per cent in Q3FY21 as compared to 8.8 per cent in Q3FY20.
Basic Earnings per share (EPS) for Q3FY21 stood at Rs 6.90, as compared with Rs 6.14 for Q3FY20.
"The quarter has seen further improvement in our business and financial metrics. Our overall sales and sales mix is now trending very close to our usual times except for specific customer consumption changes post COVID-19. Apparel, laundry, footwear, travel and such relevant out of home usage categories are taking more time to recover," Neville Noronha, CEO & Managing Director, Avenue Supermarts.
"Agile OPEX management along with a good surge in festival shopping allowed us to deliver a significantly better quarter than the previous two quarters. However, December month didn't trend as well as the festival months of October and November," he added.
Two years or older DMart stores, which are 162 in number, did approximately 96 per cent of December 2019 sales in December 2020, Noronha noted. Restricted store operations in certain cities post-Diwali due to night curfews and weekend closure led to significantly larger declines in those stores versus same period last year, he added.
Commenting on shoppers' behaviour, Noronha pointed out that tendency to shop more efficiently by shoppers has resulted in lesser trips and higher basket values becoming the norm. While there is a general reduction in basket values compared to peak pandemic levels, they continue to be relatively higher than pre-COVID-19 levels, he said.
"We also continue to face inconsistent supplies from the non-FMCG sector. Raw material prices are also going up. Availability in certain categories is likely to get worse before getting better. This could therefore have an impact on sales mix and margins in the near term," the Avenue Supermarts CEO said.
Noronha said that the company will continue extended store operating hours while maintaining stringent safety precautions as before.