At a time the organised retail sector is feeling the heat of a slowdown in consumption, Avenue Supermarts Ltd (ASL), the parent of D-Mart, on Saturday declared a 47.7 per cent rise in standalone net profit at Rs 333 crore.

The total revenue of the firm came in at Rs 5,949 crore compared with Rs 4,873 crore in the same period last year.

The numbers, however, were below analysts’ estimates. Brokerages such as Edelweiss had expected ASL to report a revenue of Rs 6,145 crore and a net profit of around Rs 380 crore.

“Revenue growth for the quarter was slightly lower than our estimates, while the gross margin saw improvement over the corresponding period last year because of a better revenue mix. PAT margin improvement is in line with revenue growth and is also aided by a revision in corporate tax rate,” said Neville Noronha, CEO and managing director of Avenue Supermarts.

The company posted an EBITDA margin of 8.7 per cent during the period compared with 8 per cent in the year-ago period.

While the press statement did not provide details on the same store sales growth, ASL said D-Mart follows an “everyday low cost-everyday low price strategy”, which is aimed at procuring goods at competitive prices, using operational and distribution efficiency and delivering value for money to customers.

As on September 30, 2019, the company had 189 stores with a retail business area of 6.5 million square feet across states.

On a consolidated basis, total revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, stood at Rs 5,991 crore compared with Rs 4,893 crore in the year-ago period, while net profit came in at Rs 323 crore against Rs 219 crore a year ago.

On Friday, its shares had settled with gains of 1.23 per cent at Rs 1,843.25. Over the past three months, its shares have risen over 34 per cent despite the consumption slowdown not showing any signs of easing.