Bata India’s Q1 revenue up eight per cent

For the June quarter Bata India’s revenues were up 8.3 per cent year on year. Ebitda was up 38 per cent year on year. Profitability improved and the ebitda margin expanded by 355 bps to 16.53 per cent.

Bata now plans to add around 100 new stores, 50 new franchisee stores and expand its distribution in the current year. Premium products are expected to contribute 35 per cent to Bata’s revenue by fiscal ’19 end.

The focus will be on building the Bata brand and attracting more footfalls through impactful store décor, in-store activities, aggressive launch of new products and increasing advertising spends, and also focusing on reducing rentals and saving other costs.

The brand is focusing on expansion through franchisees, closing down unprofitable stores and renovating old ones, launching new collections, increasing focus on sub-brands, improving brand perception by use of digital platforms, higher advertising spend and association with celebrities for brand endorsements and enhancing in-store experience to appeal to the more fashion-conscious younger consumers.

The company retails through over 1,400 Bata stores and in thousands of multi-brand footwear dealer stores pan-India. E-commerce accounts for about five per cent of the company’s revenue. The figure will move into double digits in the near future.