Aditya Birla Fashion And Retail Net Profit Declines 94% To Rs 11 Crore In December Quarter

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd on Wednesday reported a 94.3 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 11.21 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2022 on account of an increase in marketing and strategic investments in new ventures.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 196.80 crore during the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) said in a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations was up 20.14 per cent to Rs 3,588.80 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,987.10 crore in the year-ago period.

"Net profits for the quarter were impacted by 2.3 times increase in marketing and strategic investments in new ventures," ABFRL said in its earnings statement.

Its total expenses were at Rs 3,602.84 in the third quarter of FY23, up 31.28 per cent.

"Company continued with its strong growth trajectory with fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth over the pre-COVID period," it added.

Growth in the quarter was primarily driven by strong like-to-like across branded businesses and consistent performance in e-commerce.

"The quarter also saw accelerated marketing investments post a hiatus of 2 years across businesses as the company reinstated its rigour on augmenting its brands and building customer engagement," it said.

Its revenue from the 'Madura Fashion & Lifestyle' segment was up 23.87 per cent to Rs 2,465.70 crore as against Rs 1,990.52 crore a year ago on the back of the revival of the wholesale business and strong retail sales.

While Pantaloons' revenue was up 8.65 per cent to Rs 1,158.72 crore as against Rs 1,066.43 crore of the corresponding quarter, despite disruption in large format stores due to the third wave of COVID.

ABFRL continued network expansion as its branded business network gained 245 stores, including newly integrated Reebok stores, while its ethnic business added 15 new stores.

Pantaloons added 10 new stores to the network, taking the total count to 406.

ABFRL said the long-term outlook for the company continues to be positive owing to the normalisation of offline businesses, the proliferation of e-commerce, and continued penetration of organised and branded apparel.

"With multiple growth drivers at play, ABFRL is strategically positioned to capitalise, having firmly established its presence across multiple categories, segments, channels and price points," it said.

ABFRL, part of the Aditya Birla group, has an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats.

The company, which has a repertoire of leading brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England besides fast fashion store Pantaloons, has a network of 3,442 stores across approximately 32,589 multi-brand outlets as of December 31, 2022.

Its international brands portfolio includes The Collective, India's largest multi-brand retailer of international brands and has long-term exclusive partnerships with select brands such as Ralph Lauren, Hackett London, Ted Baker, Fred Perry, Forever 21, American Eagle and Reebok.

Shares of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd on Tuesday settled 1.74 per cent down at Rs 251.15 on the BSE.