DMart's quarterly sales may fall 25% but the shares are already up 35% ⁠— the retailer is now bigger than Maruti, Nestle and HCL Tech

• DMart’s parent company Avenue Supermarts became India’s 11th most valued company.
• However, its fourth quarter earnings could still have taken a hit due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• The company had earlier said that 50% of its stores were not operational during the lockdown.

DMart’s share price has climbed by 35.7% since the beginning of the year. However, its fourth quarter earnings could still have taken a hit due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Prabhudas Lilladher, there will be an estimated 25% sales decline between Jan and March 2020 for DMart, and a 5% decline in the next three months ending June. The growth in profit after tax in March 2021 is likely to be just 12%, according to the report.

The most valued retail stock in India had also pushed its owner Radhakishan Damani to become India’s second richest man.

On Thursday (May 21), DMart’s parent company Avenue Supermarts became India’s 11th most valued company. Its market cap stood at ₹1,58,902.37 crore, moving ahead of giants like Maruti, Nestle, HCL Tech.

DMart’s bullish growth

DMart began with a single store in Mumbai’s Powai in 2002. Today, DMart is present in over 214 locations across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, NCR, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Rajasthan.

In the third quarter ending December 2019, DMart had posted a 33% jump in profits, as well as a 24.4% increase in revenue to ₹6,809 crore. If COVID-19 hadn't struck, according to reports, DMart would have ended FY20 with almost no debt.

Covid19 strategy

With the coronavirus pandemic, DMart was quick to implement multiple strategies to stay afloat. Being in the essentials category, DMart pushed its limitations and decided to stay open 24*7 since April 1. It began to deliver essentials at home by tying up with RWAs and taking in orders through WhatsApp.

But that might not be enough. “However the sales from these channels are inconsequential,” said the company.

The company also said that 50% of its stores were not operational during the lockdown. Its sales would also be impacted as the coronavirus pandemic kept people away from physically visiting stores while sales in its non-essentials category came to a standstill.

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