Avenue Supermarts slumps after muted Q3 outcome

Avenue Supermarts fell 9.25% to Rs 1423.90 at 11:35 IST on BSE after net profit rose 2.12% to Rs 257.11 crore on 33.15% rise in net sales to Rs 5450.94 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017.

The result was announced on Saturday, 12 January 2019.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 236.49 points, or 0.66% to 35,773.35.

On the BSE, 2.11 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 52,000 shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 1474.20 and a low of Rs 1423.40 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,696.15 on 19 December 2018. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,062.90 on 6 February 2018.

Avenue Supermarts' earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in Q3 December 2018 stood at Rs 453 crore, up by 7.5%. The company's EBITDA margin is at 8.3% in Q3 December 2018 as compared to 10.3% in Q3 December 2017.

The company said D-Mart follows Everyday low cost - Everyday low price (EDLC-EDLP) strategy which aims at procuring goods at competitive price, using operational and distribution efficiency and thereby delivering value for money to customers by selling at competitive prices.

Commenting on the financial performance of the company Mr. Neville Noronha, CEO & managing director, Avenue Supermarts, said topline continued to grow well even though PAT growth remained flat vis a vis the corresponding quarter last year, primarily due to gross margin reduction on account of price cuts. The company constantly strives to give better prices to consumers and its cost leadership allows it to do that. Operating costs inched upwards due to preloading of certain expenses primarily around capability building across infrastructure and people. Good times allows the firm to invest for the future right now. The company also overspent a little to manage the festival season better through longer operating hours. The firm continues to operate longer hours in certain stores even after the festive period.

Mumbai-based Avenue Supermarts owns and operates D-Mart stores. D-Mart is an emerging national supermarket chain that offers customers a range of home and personal products under one roof.

As of 31 December 2018, the company had 164 stores with retail business area of 5.3 million square feet across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, NCR, Chhattisgarh and Punjab.

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