(Reuters) -Footwear retailer Metro Brands reported fourth quarter profit above expectations on Thursday, benefiting from strong demand for its premium products in a quarter that generally sees a high number of weddings.
The company’s consolidated profit after tax of 947.5 million Indian rupees ($11.02 million) for the quarter ended March 31 came in above analysts’ estimate of 881 million rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its quarterly profit was about 39% lower than a year ago, due to a tax benefit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
Metro, which also sells brands such as Crocs and Fila besides its own, reported a revenue growth of 10.3% to 6.43 billion rupees in the fourth quarter.
Expenses rose about 7%, outpaced by the rise in revenue.
KEY CONTEXT
Demand remains strong for products that cater to upper middle class and richer Indians, despite the dampening effect of the high cost of living on overall urban consumption.
Metro Brands has, in recent quarters, benefited from premiumization. The portion of its sales derived from footwear retailing for more than 3,000 rupees grew to 54% in fiscal 2025, from 50% in fiscal 2024.
The company also flagged the boost to sales from India’s winter wedding season, that can run from November to February.
Metro Brands’ peers Bata India and Campus Activewear have not yet reported results. Relaxo Footwears earlier this month reported a decline in fourth quarter revenue, profit after tax and number of footwear sold.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit Mean No. of Stock to Div
growth (%) growth (%) rating* analyst price yield
s target** (%)
Metro Brands 66.91 35.11 17.15 28.77 Buy 20 0.94 0.51
Bata India 49.96 19.34 8.49 7.59 Hold 10 0.94 1.51
Campus Activewear 52.28 27.14 13.89 28.00 Buy 7 0.89
Relaxo Footwears 49.82 24.11 8.73 20.94 Hold 9 0.88 0.69
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
JANUARY TO MARCH STOCK PERFORMANCE
— All data from LSEG
— $1 = 86.0040 Indian rupees
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
