Mumbai: India’s largest listed retailer, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, reported a 68% decline in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended 31 December, hurt by interest costs, weak consumer sentiment and a tepid festive season.
The company had a net profit of Rs 4.47 crore in the period, down from Rs 13.96 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue increased marginally by 3.68% to Rs 3,174.6 crore from Rs 3,061.85 crore a year earlier, the company informed BSE on Friday.
Net profit was dragged down by interest expenses of Rs 244.1 crore, an increase of 63% year-on-year (y-o-y).
Brokerage and research firm
Ambit Capital Pvt. Ltd had expected Pantaloon to post a net profit decline of 3% y-o-y and revenue to grow 13%, assisted by improving same-store sales growth.
“Owing to the weak sentiments, customers across formats seem to have postponed their purchase decisions,” the company said in a report on its website.
In January alone, the company achieved sales of more than 40% of what it had achieved during the entire December quarter as it ran promotions, the report said.
Pantaloon fell 3.37% to Rs 189.50 on BSE on Friday, while the benchmark Sensex lost 0.46% to 17,748.69 points.
Ravindra Sonavane contributed to this story.