Trent Ltd announces Q1 FY22 results

Trent Limited (the "Company"), today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30th, 2021 (standalone and consolidated).

Standalone Results

- The covid 2nd wave related disruptions significantly impacted our operations during Q1. Our fashion business (Westside and Zudio) operated for 46% of the trading days, up from 26% in the corresponding previous period. However, by the close of the quarter, we were operational for over 80% of the trading days. The latter part of first quarter saw the pandemic related restrictions ease considerably aiding sentiment and improving consumer traction.

- In this backdrop, revenue from operations recovered to Rs. 327 crs registering a 240% growth over the corresponding previous quarter. This coupled with various cost mitigation measures, including with respect to property related payouts and operating expenditures, led to significantly lower loss from operations of Rs. 89 crs (Rs. 171 cr loss in Q1 FY21).

- We continue with the initiative of crystallizing reductions in rent and related charges. As required by the applicable standards, Rs. 35crs have been accounted as part of other income notwithstanding their operating nature. We continue to engage with our property partners as we navigate the business disruptions across select stores/ locations.

- The reported results incorporate the IndAS 116 lease accounting requirements reflected across rent, depreciation, other income and finance costs in the statement of profit and loss. The net effect of Ind AS 116 on the standalone profit before tax was an adverse impact of Rs. 25 crs in Q1 FY22. Other income primarily includes rent waivers, investment & dividend income / fair value changes and recognition of Ind AS 116 impact of lease modification / termination.

- It is encouraging to note that in recent weeks, over 90% of our stores are operational on most days of a week with local restrictions being increasingly eased. We are witnessing a sharp recovery in our fashion business with July registering revenue recovery of over 80% vis-à-vis FY20 levels. Post the first wave, this level of recovery only played out several months following the reopening.

- Our customers continue to increasingly leverage the convenience of our digital platforms with the online channel registering close to 200% growth in Q1 over corresponding quarter. We continue to register over 5% of Westside revenues through online channels. Digital content and social media initiatives are increasingly central to our ongoing communication of the customer offer. The synchronization of these efforts with product launches each week has improved engagement across our target audience.

- We continue to remain focused and committed to the accelerated store expansion agenda. As of date, 184 Westside and 137 Zudio stores are operational. Further, an additional 13 Westside and 12 Zudio stores were fitted out and ready to open. These 25 stores would open once covid related restrictions are eased/ local municipal approvals are in place.

Consolidated Results

- For Q1, the consolidated revenues of Rs. 492 crs was a growth of 98% over the corresponding previous period. Loss after tax as attributable to the equity shareholders of the company was Rs. 127 crs vis-à-vis a loss of Rs 178 crs in Q1 FY21.

- The consolidated results also incorporate the Ind AS 116 lease accounting requirements. The net effect of Ind AS 116 on the reported loss before tax for the year was an adverse impact of Rs. 28crs.

Speaking on the performance, Mr. Noel N Tata, Chairman, Trent Limited said, "The second wave and the aftermath disrupted our operations across our concepts in the recent months. Nevertheless, we have been pleasantly encouraged by the rapid recovery in customer offtake starting from the middle of June as the business reopened in many markets. Our fashion business has, in particular, recovered sharply and is now back to operating profitability. We continue to focus on our expansion program and I am happy to report that we are seeing good progress on building a strong pipeline, even as the constraints for actual opening to customers remains a challenge in the near term in the case of mall locations / select markets.

While we cannot predict how quickly we will see the back of this crisis, we know that it will get behind us, especially given the substantial vaccination program. And when it does abate, customer demand should further grow robustly. We are confident that the business has the expertise and importantly the resilience to weather this crisis. Near term uncertainties notwithstanding, we are continuing to focus on building out differentiated brands and strong expansion of our reach through stores and digital platforms."

Shares of Trent Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs. 947.1 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 927.9. The total number of shares traded during the day was 101378 in over 4412 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 964 and intraday low of 921.25. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 96280480.

Source : Equity Bulls

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