Avenue Supermarts, parent of the retail chain DMart, on Saturday reported a lower-than-expected 24 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. The company clocked a net profit of Rs 552.53 crore against Rs 446.95 crore a year ago.

Market pundits had expected the Radhakrishna Damani-founded retailer to report a net profit of Rs 603 crore.

Revenues rose to Rs 9,217.76 crore against Rs 7,542 crore in the year-ago quarter — a growth of 22 per cent.

On a standalone basis, net profits rose almost 25 per cent to Rs 585.79 crore (Rs 470.25 crore), while revenues came in at Rs 9,065 crore from Rs 7,432 crore a year ago.

Commenting on its performance during the period, Neville Noronha, CEO and managing director of Avenue Supermarts, said rising inflation and fewer opportunities to go out had hurt certain categories more than others. The quarter saw DMart adding 17 stores while store additions during the nine-month period stood at 29.

“Revenues in the DMart stores grew by 22 per cent in this quarter over the corresponding quarter of last year. Overall gross margins are marginally lower due to mix deterioration. General merchandise and apparel business is consistently seeing relatively lesser sales contribution while essentials and FMCG is doing better... We are seeing higher inflation as an opportunity to make our buying more efficient, our assortment sharper and continue to keep our costs low,” he added.

Noronha said footfalls and sales would depend on local regulations in response to the latest Covid-19 wave of infections.

Shares of the company had ended in the green at Rs 4730.85 on Friday on the BSE. Avenue Supermarts now has a market cap of Rs 3,06,452 crore.