Footwear retailer Bata India's quarterly profit slumps on one-time charges, higher costs
Footwear retailer Bata India's quarterly profit slumps on one-time charges, higher costs May 27 (Reuters) - Footwear chain Bata India BATA.NS, which retails international brands such as Hush Puppies and Scholl in the country, posted a 95% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, hurt by one-time charges and higher costs.
Consolidated profit fell to 22.1 million rupees ($230,954.12) for the March quarter, from 459.2 million rupees a year ago
The company incurred a one-time charge of about 281 million rupees towards voluntary retirement schemes
Total expenses rose about 9%, outpacing revenue growth, due to a roughly 12% rise in raw material costs
Other expenses also jumped 26% in the quarter, partly due to a one-time non-cash forex loss of 224 million rupees linked to currency devaluation
Bata's profit before exceptional items and tax stood at 318.7 million rupees during the quarter, down about 49% from a year ago
Consolidated revenue from operations rose 5% to 8.28 billion rupees in the quarter
Rival Campus Activewear CAMU.NS on Monday said it has hiked prices across its portfolio to offset elevated input costs, particularly in crude-linked raw materials such as EVA and polyurethane
Bata, which has more than 1,375 stores in the country, is focusing on casual and athleisure lines to attract younger shoppers and benefit from demand revival following the consumption tax cuts
($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Devika Nair in Bengaluru)
((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9558725583;))