Raymond announces financial results; witnesses subdued consumer demand

Raymond Ltd has announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2016.
Textile segment sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 declined marginally by one per cent to Rs 504 crore, B2C shirting fabric continues to perform well and grew by 26 per cent during the quarter. EBITDA is same as last year after eliminating one-time income of Rs 8 crore towards power subsidy refund in last year.
Apparel segment sales for the quarter rose by 17 per cent to Rs 242 crore on the back of sustained investments in brands. EBITDA margins impacted y-y due to lower gross margins on account of EOSS, higher cotton prices, investments in e-commerce along with one time gain of rs 4 crore towards sale of assets in previous period.
Retail stores count as at June 30, 2016 stood at 1,051 across all formats, including 47 stores in the Middle East and the SAARC region covering over 1.9 million square feet of retail space.
Garmenting segment sales increased 21 per cent to Rs 140 crore during the quarter. EBITDA more than doubled to Rs 13 crore led by better realisations coupled with higher volumes.
Luxury cotton shirting fabric business rose by 15 per cent to Rs 115 crore during the quarter, EBITDA margin for the quarter declined by 100 bps y-o-y to 9.4 per cent.
Tools and hardware segment performance impacted due to slowdown in industrial activities in key markets especially Latin America and currency devaluation of African countries. Portfolio mix rationalization in domestic and export market and lower commodity prices led to gross margin improvement.
Auto components segment performance not comparable due to forging business disposed of in  FY16. On a like for like basis, sales up 14 per cent and EBITDA doubled to Rs 6 crore led by higher off takes in exports market and operating efficiency.
Announcing the results, Chairman and MD, Raymond Ltd, Gautam Hari Singhania said, “The current quarter witnessed a subdued consumer demand with early onset of EOSS period in addition to volatile global environment. Notwithstanding these challenges, we have been able to register growth in top-line and EBITDA at the consolidated level; which speaks well of the resilience of our brands and distribution network. We are confident of the strategic direction of our business in terms of brands, retail and consumer focus and will continue to invest in these areas.”