TCNS Clothing Company, a leading women’s apparel retailer in India, saw its shares drop by around 7% and hit a 52-week low after announcing its disappointing third-quarter earnings report.
The company reported a net profit of only INR 50 lakh, which was down 98 percent year-on-year. The drop was attributed to higher depreciation, lower other income and interest expense, coupled with weak operational performance, which weighed on the bottom line.
Furthermore, the company’s revenue also declined by 6.8 percent on year to INR 306.1 crore, dragged by specific fabric issues in brand W, muted B2B online sales, and challenges in Future Group-operated Central stores. EBITDA margin also contracted by 620 basis points to 13% in the Oct-Dec period. The EBITDA margin was still significantly lower than pre-COVID levels due to negative operating leverage.
Brokerage firm ICICI direct expressed disappointment in TCNS Clothing Company’s Q3 revenue performance, stating that even an undisrupted festive season could not help the company report growth over pre-COVID levels. In a report, ICICI direct wrote, “Revenue and profitability remained lower than pre-COVID levels in Q3, which is a cause for concern, and improvement in both these parameters would be a key monitorable for the company’s performance.”