Avenue Supermarts, which runs the D-Mart supermarkets chain, has posted a 65.77 per cent jump in its net profit on account of overall increase in margin mix and improved operating costs.
According to a PTI report: Its net profit stood at Rs 251.76 crore on a standalone basis for the quarter ended December 31, compared to Rs 151.87 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Its total income in the quarter under review stood at Rs 4,108.47 crore, up 22.71 per cent, against Rs 3,347.85 crore in the year-ago period, Avenue Supermarts said.
“The company has seen a 65.8 per cent jump in net profits due to gross margin increase and improved operating costs,” Neville Noronha, CEO and Managing Director, Avenue Supermarts was quoted by PTI as saying.
“Growth in this quarter appears to be lower as compared to previous year quarter because of demonetization base effect. Growth in December 2016 quarter was significantly higher than the growth of FY 16-17,” the company had said in its BSE filing.
Total revenue for nine months ended December stood at Rs 11,201 crore, as compared to Rs 8,770 crore in the same period last year. Its net profit between April and December grew by 60 per cent to Rs 618 crore, as compared to Rs 386 crore for the same period last year.
Avenue Supermarts was listed on stock exchanges with a blockbuster listing in March last year, making Radhakishan Damani, the founder of the company and a low-profile investor, a part of India’s richest 20 club.
The board approved the acquisition of 50.79 per cent paid-up share capital of Avenue E-Commerce, an associate company of Avenue Supermarts Limited.
Post acquisition, Avenue E-commerce shall become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Avenue Supermarts, the company said. When asked about the e-commerce business, Noronha said that it is still in its pilot stage in Mumbai.
The company added five new stores in the quarter, and 10 stores in the nine months from April to December. “More stores are in the pipeline, and typically the last quarter of the year has maximum store openings. We are concentrating on the southern and western markets,” Noronha was further quoted by PTI as saying.
At present, the company operates 141 stores in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, NCR, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.
