Avenue Supermarts tanks 4% on Q4 earnings

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Authors: JordanNEW DELHI: Stock of Avenue Supermarts, the parent of hyper retail chain D-Mart, fell 4 per cent on Monday even as the company
reported 73 per cent annual rise in net profit at Rs 167 crore for the March quarter. The food and grocery retailer reported Rs 167 crore
profit for January-March against Rs 97 crore in the year-ago period. It added 24 stores in FY18, of which 14 were added in the fourth
quarter. The stock fell 3.76 per cent despite the jump in profit to hit a low of Rs 1,433.45 on the BSE. “Deflation in staples, tax rates
not being comparable, store addition not in line with expectation and base effect of demonetisation have made March 2018 revenue a little
tepid
Grooming talent and store addition shall continue to remain two main challenges as well as focus areas for the company,” said Neville
Noronha, CEO and MD, Avenue Supermarts. Total revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 3,810 crore, up 22.5 per cent yoy
The company had clocked Rs 3,111 crore sales in the same period last year
PAT margin came in at 4.4 per cent for the fourth quarter compared with 3.1 per cent a year earlier.