DMart has reported a 52 per cent growth in net profit to ₹414 crore in the fourth quarter of FY21 compared to a profit of ₹271 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The company said that at least 80 per cent of its operations were impacted because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

Its revenue increased 18 per cent during the period to ₹7,411.68 crore.

Avenue Supermart’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in Q4FY21 stood at ₹613 crore, an increase of 47 per cent from ₹417 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. The Retail chain’s expenses for FY21’s fourth quarter stood at ₹6,916.24 versus ₹5,957.53 same time last fiscal.

Neville Noronha, CEO & Managing Director, Avenue Supermarts Limited, said: “FY2021 has been a challenging year for its business. The year began amidst a strict lockdown post the emergence of the Covid-19 towards the end of the last financial year. The economy gradually opened post May 2020 and the second half of the year was progressing towards recovery.

Also read: DMart Q3 net profit rise 16.5 per cent to Rs 447 crore

“However, a much stronger second wave of Covid-19 infections hit the country towards the end of FY 2021 and has once again resulted in significant disruption to our business as several cities and towns have announced restrictions.”

The company said that at least 80 per cent of its operations were impacted because of the restrictions. “Our stores are operating for significantly lower number of hours (not exceeding four hours per day) or are even shut for operations for one to two weeks or shut on weekends. These shutdowns are having an adverse and severe impact on our revenues,” the company said.

Speaking about its supply chain, DMart said that while it was able to manage its supply chain, with the second wave at its peak and the third wave at its doorstep, “this time we may have a problem of excess inventory. An issue larger than the first wave. This could have a longer-term impact on our inventory to sales ratio as we could take comparatively longer time to liquidate the excess inventory.”

The company opened its first store in Mumbai in 2002. As of March 31, 2021, the company had 234 operating stores with a retail business Area of 8.82 million sq. ft.

DMart’s construction activity was impacted during the first half of the year. It gradually commenced the store construction activity from the second half of the year and opened 22 new stores during the year whereas two stores were converted into fulfilment centers for Avenue E-commerce Limited.

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