Right Foot Forward

With a revamp of product lines and stores, and its image, Bata India has been bringing customers back to the brand of their childhood

- Monica Bathija

Besides its own and franchise stores, Bata is available in over 10,000 multi-brand outlets across India

Ever since Sandeep Kataria took over as CEO of Bata India in August 2017, one of his favourite jobs involves driving into a small town and asking for directions to the Bata store there. “And very often there is a Bata chowk in the town, where the Bata store is,” he says with a laugh. “So that itself is a nice, solid kick in the morning.”

It is the middle of the countrywide lockdown and like probably every other CEO in the country, Kataria has been planning scenarios and strategies for the omnipresent brand post-lockdown. But he is also glad to be doing something normal, like discussing normal times. Which at Bata India have been good—not just over the past few years, but also through the economic stasis last year.

Bata India clocked revenues of ₹2,636.32 crore in FY18 and ₹2,928.44 crore in FY19, registering an 11 percent growth. In the same period, its net profits grew 47 percent from ₹223.58 crore to ₹329.66 crore. In Q3 of the current financial year, it reported revenues of ₹829.6 crore and a net profit of ₹117.2 crore. This took the total profit for the fiscal up to December to ₹289.3 crore, a 20 percent increase over the ₹241.3 crore profit for the same period last year.

During the financial year ended March 31, 2019, Bata India opened over 130 own and franchise stores, strengthening its already strong distribution network to over 1,500 exclusive stores in 600 towns and cities. It has also launched a store refurbishment drive across 500 selected stores.