Avenue Supermarts Ltd.'s second-quarter profit fell, missing consensus estimates, as persistently high inflation and weakening consumer demand weighed on trade.
Consolidated net profit of the Radhakishan Damani-led company fell 9% over the same period last year to Rs 623.35 crore in the three months to September, according to its stock exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 746.3-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
Revenue rose 19% to Rs 12,624.37 crore compared with an estimate of Rs 12,486.2 crore.
Operating profit up 13% at Rs 1004.97 crore versus the estimated Rs 1094.25 crore.
Margin narrowed to 8% against 8.4%. Analysts had pegged the metric at 8.8%.
."Our gross margins continue to be lower compared to the same period in the previous year due to lesser contribution from the higher margin general merchandise and apparel business," said Neville Noronha, chief executive officer and managing director of Avenue Supermarts Ltd.
Besides, an 11% growth in average store count and 7% year-on-year per-store revenue growth aided DMart's revenue recovery, Jefferies said in a note after the retailer released its quarterly business update earlier this month.
In the second quarter, the company added nine stores, taking its total outlet count to 336 at the end of September.
Shares of Avenue Supermarts closed 1.48% higher on Friday at Rs 3,920 apiece as against benchmark Nifty 50's 0.22% decline at Rs 19,734.3. The results were declared on a market holiday.
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