Footwear major Bata is “cautiously optimistic” of a double-digit growth in topline on the back of expanding distribution network and new product offering.

The company’s revenue from operations was ₹3478.41 crore in FY24, up by less than 1 per cent from ₹3451.56 crore in FY23.

“The Indian economy overall is on a good trajectory, and we are cautiously optimistic that we would be able to get a double-digit growth as soon as possible,” Bata India chairman Ashwani Windlass told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.

As of the quarter ended June, the company had a distribution network of 1916 stores comprising of both company owned and company operated (COCO) and franchises. In FY24, the company had added 161 odd stores. “We have been continuously expanding and adding new stores both in COCO and franchise and if we can continue on this path, we will reach 2000 stores sooner rather than later,” Gunjan Shah, MD and CEO, Bata India told The Telegraph after the company’s AGM.

The company is also looking at expanding retail presence through exclusive brand outlets for its individual brands. “We launched the first Power EBO (exclusive brand outlet) in Noida and plan to open another 5 EBOs shortly,” said Windlass. The company has more than 125 Hush Puppy stores and over 650 sneaker studios.

The footwear major has also diversified into apparels under its Power brand and has also entered into a licensing and manufacturing deal for lifestyle brand Nine West.

The company is cautious on controlling costs while also looking to improve productivity and efficiency. It has informed stock exchanges of the closure of its factory at Karnataka and has offered VRS to its employees at that plant, which contributed around 6 per cent of the production capacity. However, this is unlikely to have any impact on the company’s production.

“We have our own manufacturing ecosystem of 3 plants (including Calcutta) where we have done a lot of optimisation and we also have our ecosystem of manufacturing partners,” Windlass said.

He added that has also made significant investment towards technology.

“We have implemented high-performance merchandising technology that shortens product cycles and enables faster introduction and replenishment of our latest collections in stores. Digital technologies, including AI, digital analytics and ERP, will support sharper decision-making, increase organization-wide speed, and facilitate efficiency from procurement to e-commerce,” Windlass said.