India's Avenue Supermarts falls as discretionary sales struggle

Avenue Supermarts

17/10/2022 10:55

** Shares in DMart-owner Avenue Supermarts  AVEU.NS  fall as
much as 3.9% to 4,140.05 rupees, their lowest since July 28,
after earnings report over the weekend
    ** Avenue said its general merchandise and apparel
division's share of overall revenue increased to nearly 25% in
the first half of fiscal 2023 from 23.4% in fiscal 2022, but
Prabhudas Lilladher said the segment was below pre-pandemic mark
    ** General merchandise and apparel typically carry higher
margins than foods
    ** Discretionary sales are also lower as footfalls have not
recovered to pre-pandemic levels, Prabhudas Lilladher analyst
Amnish Aggarwal wrote in a note
    ** Avenue still reported a near 36% increase in revenue from
operations for the September quarter, as people gradually
returning to old routines spent more
    ** Through last close, Avenue shares had lost nearly 8% of
their value this year
 (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam)
 ((Praveen.Paramasivam@thomsonreuters.com;))