Trent, a part of the Tata Group, on Wednesday reported a 139.4 per cent surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 370.64 crore in the third quarter (Q2) ended December 2023 against the consolidated net profit of Rs 154.81 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing.
The company’s total income climbed 66.87 per cent to Rs 3,946.95 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 2,365.24 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
Across mediums, the company has shown constant growth. According to a business statement, the gross margin profiles of Westside and Zudio have remained consistent with previous patterns.
Overall, its operational EBIT margin for Q3 FY24 was 13 per cent, compared to 8.5 per cent in Q3 FY23.
As of 31 December 2023, the company’s portfolio comprises 227 Westside, 460 Zudio, and 28 outlets spanning various lifestyle concepts. During the quarter, the business added 5 Westside and 50 Zudio locations in 36 cities, including 13 new ones.
In Q3 FY24, Trent’s total expenses surged at a high rate to Rs 3,101.44 crore from Rs 2,189.62 crore in the same period of the last fiscal, according to the BSE filing.
According to accounting rules, the company’s consolidated top line excludes sales from the Trent Hypermarket division. Nonetheless, the results contain the proportionate share of this venture’s profits as accounted for using the equity method.
Noel N Tata, chairman of Trent said, “Our lifestyle offerings across concepts, categories and channels witnessed strong momentum in Q3FY24. The growing scale of our operations distinctly enables us to realize greater operating synergies. We continue to see growing relevance for our offerings, resilience in our business model choices and attractiveness of our differentiated platform.”
He further said, “We will continue to expand and deepen our store presence with the aim of being ever more proximate and convenient to customers reinforcing our brand promise. We believe that our strategic differentiators will continue to provide us encouraging tailwinds.”
Regarding the Star business, which consists of 67 outlets, the firm has continued to see better consumer traction with increasing sales density. According to the company, several measures launched in recent years to improve operating performance have yielded good results.
Compared to the prior period, the company’s operational revenue increased by 26 per cent in the third quarter of FY24. Almost all of this gain came from like-for-like retailers, and the volume rise was significant and similar. The company’s overall operating performance improved, with staples, fresh, and general products driving the increase.
Tata believes that the firm has a distinctive and scalable approach to pursue, given the improving economics and stability of Star’s operating performance.
Tata further elaborated, “We have applied our playbook to the Star business and are witnessing strong customer traction, instilling a growing conviction to build out this growth engine in the food and grocery space. We are confident that this business is also well poised to shift gears and deliver substantial value to customers and shareholders going forward. The growing acceptance of our brands demonstrates the attractiveness of our platform and the tremendous potential to address opportunities that lie ahead.”
