Trent shares react to Q3 results; Westside, Zudio store additions, other key takeaways

Shares of Trent Ltd were trading 1 per cent lower in Thursday's trade, following the Tata group firm's December quarter results. The retailer reported a 33.94 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 496.54 crore in for third quarter compared with Rs 370.64 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter was up 36 per cent YoY at Rs 4,803 crore from Rs 3,521 crore YoY, the Tata group firm told stock exchanges.

Following the development, the stock was trading at 1.41 per cent lower at Rs 5,670. It fell 2.97 per cent to hit a low of Rs 5,583 earlier today. Trent said the gross margin profile of Westside and Zudio remained consistent, with the overall operating EBIT margin for Q3FY25 coming in at 13.1 per cent against 13.3 per cent in the year-ago quarter. The Tata group firm witnessed faster pace of store additions in Q3, in line with its plans. It now operates over 850 'large-box' fashion stores.

Trent said it continued to selectively refresh its store footprint across concepts, with presence now across 201 cities. During the quarter, it opened 14 Westside and 62 Zudio stores (including 1 in Dubai) across 46 cities and consolidated 2 Westside and 4 Zudio stores. As of 31st December, its store portfolio included 238 Westside, 635 Zudio and 34 stores across other lifestyle concepts, Trent told stock exchanges.

Noel N Tata, Chairman, Trent Limited said his company remained on track to strongly expand our reach and at the same time improve the quality of store portfolio. The strong store opening program this year together with other levers kept Trent's growth journey on track, he said.

Tata said the fashion portfolio continued to be differentiated by disciplines & choices. The market opportunity associated with building brands and a pure play direct-to-customer business remains immense, he said.

Tata said his company continued to apply Trent’s playbook to the Star business and is witnessing compelling customer traction.

In Q3FY25, Trent's fashion concepts registered high single digit like for like growth. As of 31st December, it operated with a footprint of over 11 million sqft. across its fashion brands. This is an increase of 33 per cent over the previous year. The emerging categories including beauty & personal care, innerwear and footwear continued to gain traction with customers. These emerging categories contribute to over 20 per cent of Trent's revenues.

"We are also pursuing store portfolio optimization agenda. This involves upgrading or consolidating smaller footprint stores with newer stores in more attractive micro markets. While store expansion is a key growth lever for us, maintaining the quality and physical aesthetics of stores and ensuring consistent customer experience is equally an important objective," it said.

Trent said Westside together with its proposition on the Tata Neu platform continued to witness traction and grow profitably. Online revenues year to date have grown 45 per cent and now contributes to over 6 per cent of Westside revenues, it said.