Bata India said there is room for improvement in inventory reduction as the footwear maker focuses on efficiency.
“Inventory, while I would say 70% or 75% of the job is done... there is some amount of improvement still left in our view,” managing director and chief executive officer Gunjan Shah said on a call with analysts following its quarterly results.
The company reported a 13% year-on-year reduction in gross inventory in Q4 of FY26.
“Inventory days improved sharply to 73 (vs 85 days in FY25), the lowest in several years, driven by an accelerated clearance of aged inventory, decluttering initiatives and tighter inventory control,” analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report on 27 May.
The inventory reduction was aided by the omni-channel strategy that the company adopted.
“Four months since December, we've now almost 700+ stores that are fulfilling online orders and therefore leveraging the same inventory,” Bata executives said.
Bata India reported a 95.2% year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit to ₹2.2 crore in Q4, hurt by a voluntary retirement scheme charge and a foreign exchange-related accounting loss. The company said raw material prices rose in the mid-single digits.
“Inflation cost is monitorable. It is basically in the range of over 5 to 6% blended across materials,” the management said.
However, Bata has not passed on the raw material price hikes to customers yet. New designs, expansion of stores and marketing will help growth in the coming year.
“Over the next 12 months, there will be a massive amount of upliftment of the product, from a central product design perspective,” the management said.
Marketing expenses
Bata said its focus on products such as sneakers will help attract younger customers. The company has about 2,000 retail stores. Marketing expenses rose – advertising spends increased 1.5x in the quarter, with 80-85% on digital spends.
The company is also focusing on reducing the share of products sold on discount.
“If the growth is overall x, then the full-price sale growth is actually almost 2x, or maybe a little higher,” the management said.
Bata posted a “volume-led” 4.9% revenue growth to ₹827.6 crore in the quarter. It said demand has been improving and March was better than January in terms of sales.
Bata shares declined 0.63% to ₹666.05 at the close on the National Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The benchmark Nifty 50 fell 0.33%. Shares of the company have dropped 29.65% so far in 2026 compared with a 10.4% fall in the Nifty.