Bata: Despite subdued Q4, hope of faster recovery may keep sentiment intact

Q4 was weak with 8.8% fall in top line and 45.5% decline in pre-tax profit

There is no doubt that businesses across industries will take at least a couple of quarters to recover, but the ones that show promise of faster recovery will grab investor attention. Bata could be such an example. Though the company’s March 2020 quarter (Q4) earnings — announced on Monday, a market holiday — were below expectations, its stock ended Tuesday with 0.8 per cent gains even as leading indices slipped marginally.

To start with, amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Bata’s top line declined by 8.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 619.7 crore, about 8 per cent lower than consensus expectations