Bata India forges youth connect; Q2 net profits rise by 24 per cent

European footwear giant and India’s most preferred footwear brand, Bata, has posted net profit of Rs 42.9 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2017.
Bata has been constantly premiumizing its product offering with several new launches in the men and women categories like Hush Puppies, Naturalizer, European collection, Power International range, North Star as part of its AW17 collections. Targeting the young millennials, Bata launched Power Glidesteam and Airwalk collections and promoted it digitally with #WalkWithPower campaign featuring former Miss India World, Aditi Arya.
In an industry first move, Bata India also introduced a new category of footwear targeting the Tweens, the 10-14 year olds and curated a collection in casual, daily-wear, sports and outdoor sub-categories, thereby bringing in a whole new set of audience to the stores.
Bata continued its efforts in uplifting retail experience via breath-taking store windows, trained stylists to recommend collections and specially curated in-store music, recreating an international shopping experience. Large format stores, inspired by European décor, clutter free aesthetics with contemporary furniture to create visual impact, have all added to the new Bata experience.
The festive season also brought cheer as Bata launched its localized offers for Durga Puja, Onam and Diwali. To create greater consumer engagement, Bata had roped in 2017 fbb Femina Miss India World, Manushi Chhillar, as the face for the festive campaign.
As a result of continued focus on value added products and efficiencies in cost structure, Net Profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 of Rs 42.9 crore has increased by 24 per cent over the corresponding period last year in continuation to 20 per cent growth in net profit for quarter ended June 30, 2017.
The Government of India has implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July, 2017 subsuming excise duty, service tax and various other indirect taxes. As per Ind – AS, the revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 is reported net of GST. Accordingly Revenue from Operations for the quarter is lower and not comparable to the previous period.
Managing Director, Bata India Limited & President, Asia (South), Bata Emerging Markets, Rajeev Gopalakrishnan shared, “Meeting the changing customer aspirations, offering comfort-driven technologies and dialing up fashion & contemporary collections are some of the trends that we are focusing at Bata. With a sharp focus on driving product and operational cost efficiencies and at the same time ensuring a smooth transition to GST, we have managed to ensure higher standards of customer experience and returns to our stakeholders. ”
The Board of Directors of the Company at its Meeting held on November 14, 2017 has appointed Sandeep Kataria as a Whole-time Director of the Company for a period of five years with effect from November 14, 2017, subject to approval of the shareholders of the company at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. At the said Board Meeting, Sandeep Kataria was also appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a Key Managerial Person (KMP) of the company with effect from November 14, 2017.