The share price of Metro Brands declined half a percent to INR 843.3 on January 17 after contraction in operating profit margin for the quarter ended December 2022, but the highest ever profit, revenue and EBITDA capped the downside.
The footwear retailer has recorded a 10.8 percent on-year growth in consolidated profit at INR 113 crore for the quarter, but profit margin contracted by more than 2 percentage points to 18.9 percent.
Consolidated revenue for the December quarter of FY23 came in at INR 599 crore, up 24 percent, with 48 stores opening in the period under review, which was the highest ever store openings in a quarter till date, Metro Brands said in a BSE filing on Tuesday.
As of December 2022, the company operated 720 stores across 164 cities spread across 30 states and Union Territories in India.
At the operating level, consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) increased 21.3 percent on-year to INR 205 crore in October-December period of FY23, but the margin fell by 60 bps YoY to 34.3 percent for the quarter.
For the nine-month period ended December, Metro Brands registered a 105 percent growth in profit at INR 297 crore and 68 percent increase in revenue from operations at INR 1,583 crore, compared to the corresponding period last year.
EBITDA for the said period grew by a whopping 91 percent to INR 536 crore and margin expanded sharply to 33.9 percent in the nine months as against 29.8 percent a year back, the company said.
The footwear company has announced an interim dividend of INR 2.5 per share for the current financial year.