Bata India Ltd posted its first quarter results for the financial year 2023-24 at Rs 106.89 crore, down 10.5 per cent in comparison to Rs 119.37 crore during the first quarter of FY23, primarily on account of early start of End of Season Sale by the industry. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 958.15 crore, up 1.6 per cent as against Rs 943.02 crore during the corresponding quarter of last year. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 239.3 crore, down 2.2 per cent on-year. While the total income posted during the quarter by Bata was at Rs 971.42 crore, total expenses stood at Rs 827.86 crore.
“On the discretionary spending front, demand remains subdued in the footwear sector, prolonging the deceleration that started towards the end of March 2023,” the company said in a regulatory filing. It further added that the demand recovery and acceleration is expected during the upcoming festive season.
In terms of retail presence, Bata went for an aggressive network expansion taking the store count to 2100 in close to 700 cities, with franchise and SIS network consisting of over 38 per cent of retail presence. It said that the brand renovated 27 stores during the quarter. Further, its distribution channel continued to scale up to 1390+ towns. Bata also implemented sneaker studios in 565 stores. Furt
“With our strategy of casualization and premiumization, expansion in Retail Network and accelerated investment towards core technologies (ERP, merchandising, etc.,), we believe the template is set up for future profitable growth. Digital footprint through our omnichannel e-commerce revenue streams gained significant momentum in the quarter going by,” said Gunjan Shah, MD and CEO, Bata India Limited.
“We have gained share in higher category articles in brands like Hush Puppies, Comfit, Floatz & North Star. We continue to add franchise and SIS stores to improve accessibility of the brand along with MBOs. Across all business channels of EBOs, MBOs and e-commerce, margins remained healthy despite slowness in discretionary demand and early onset of EOSS,” Gunjan Shah added.
Bata is, meanwhile, optimistic on the demand resurgence going ahead and continuing to expand in tier 3-5 towns, digital channels and make investments in brand marketing.