Q3 business for Rel Retail, Avenue Supermarts, Titan etc, surpasses pre-Covid levels

Source : ETT / IST / https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/Top Retailers Put Up a Top-Level Show/88745778

Sales of top retailers such as Reliance Retail, Shoppers Stop, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL), Avenue Supermarts, Bata and Titan surpassed pre-Covid levels in the October-December quarter, with Reliance Retail and ABFRL reporting their highest ever quarterly revenue and profit. The growth last quarter was driven by the festive and wedding seasons, top executives of these chains said in recent earnings calls. Both ecommerce and store revenue increased as compared to earlier quarters, when online sales were primarily driving the business. Reliance Industries joint chief financial officer V Srikanth told analysts that the retail business of the conglomerate achieved almost “100% normalization as far as the operation in stores is concerned, and footfalls were pretty close at 95% of pre-Covid levels” last quarter. Reliance Retail witnessed demand across consumption baskets, he said. The retailers expect a much shorter disruption due to the third wave of the pandemic after witnessing an improvement in consumer sentiment last quartet All of them said they w ill accelerate expansion plans in the next few quarters. Bata India chief executive Gunjan Shah said in its earnings release that the footwear retailer expects quick rebound in consumer sentiments owing to a decline in Covid cases and vaccination of 15-18 years olds. Reliance Retail reported 90% growth in retail revenue excluding petro retail and connectivity businesses in the December quarter. The company said its consumer electronics, apparel and footwear business doubled on the back of strong festive sales last quarter, while grocery sales grew double digits. The retail business posted earnings of 23,822 crore before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a 23.8% increase from a year earlier and its highest so far. Sales at Avenue Supermarts, which owns the D’Mart food and grocery chain, grew 22 % in the December quarter, while Titan’s revenue surged 36% (excluding bullion sales) with the jewellery division doing exceedingly well and other businesses witnessing growth over pre-pandemic levels For Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, which sells apparel brand such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Sony and runs the departmental store chain Pantaloons, sales expanded 55%. Bata too reported sales higher than pre-Covid levels.