Avenue Supermarts Q3 net almost flat at Rs 257 cr despite 33% revenue surge

Avenue Supermarts, which runs the D-Mart supermarket chain, Saturday posted 2.1 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 257 crore for the December 2018 quarter.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 252 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, it said in a BSE filing.

Its revenue from operations in the quarter under review stood at Rs 5,451 crore, up 33.2 per cent, as against Rs 4,094 crore in the year-ago period.

Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the reported quarter was at Rs 4.12 as compared to Rs 4.03 in the year-ago period. The company added four stores during the third quarter of 2018-19.

Avenue Supermarts' CEO and Managing Director Neville Noronha said the company's topline continued to grow well, even though profit after tax (PAT) growth remained flat vis-a-vis the corresponding quarter last year, primarily due to gross margin reduction on account of price cuts.

"Operating costs inched upwards due to preloading of certain expenses - primarily around capability building across infrastructure and people," he added.

As of December 2018, the company had 164 stores with retail business area of 5.3 million sq ft across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman, Andhra Pradesh and other states.