Aditya Birla Design and Retail’s Q2 income up half, sees 24% development in EBITDA

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) has posted a spike in its Q2 revenue, which has surged by 50 per cent to Rs 3,075 crore mostly due to the festive season and consistent e-commerce performance during the quarter this fiscal. The statement said that the company is optimistic about the overall consumption of fashion products for the remaining year after an encouraging start to the festive season. The company across its business segments led a 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in EBITDA to Rs 418 crore.  

The company reported that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at Rs 397.6 crore, was up 26.8 per cent from last September quarter’s Rs 313.5 crore. 

The company stated that each of its business segments — lifestyle brands, Pantaloons, the innerwear and athleisure segment, youth fashion segment, super-premium brands, and ethnic businesses such as ‘Sabyasachi’— posted strong performances

“Robust like-to-like and consistent e-commerce performance have been key drivers of growth in the September quarter. The period also saw an increase in marketing investments post a hiatus of over two years since COVID, as the company reinvigorated its focus towards brand building and strengthening consumer connect,” the fashion retail company said in a BSE filing. 

It added that there was aggressive network expansion across brands, with Pantaloons adding 21 stores on a net basis and the branded business adding 85 stores. 

For Pantaloons, the company said its business achieved the highest-ever quarterly revenues to grow 64 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,094 crore. The EBITDA margins were much ahead of pre-COVID levels. 

But overall, the company’s margin came down to 12.9 per cent for the period under review against 15.3 per cent in Q2 FY22. 

Despite reporting such great results, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd shares tumbled nearly 6.6 per cent at Rs 329 apiece on the BSE after the results came out.