Poor Q3 demand trips Metro

Metro Brands Ltd has begun 2024 on a dull note. The shares are already down 10%. This after the stock gained as much as 44% in 2023 riding on the premiumization trend. Muted consumer demand and lower-than-expected performance in the December quarter (Q3FY24) are the primary factors that have pushed the stock down this year.

- Vineetha Sampath

The footwear retailer’s revenue per square feet fell by 10% year-on-year to ₹5,200 in Q3—its third continuous quarterly drop. Add to that, losses in its acquired portfolio, Cravatex Brands Ltd, weighed on Metro’s consolidated Ebitda margin, which has contracted by 296 basis points year-on-year to 31.3%. Overall, this meant Ebitda, excluding other income, fell by 3% to ₹199 crore.

(Cravatex owns the sportswear brand Proline and holds an exclusive licence for Fila.)

Analysts have trimmed their earnings estimates for Metro. Factoring the weak Q3 results and higher losses in Cravatex (Fila), analysts from Nuvama Research have lowered their estimate for Metro Brands’s profit after tax in FY24 by 16% (standalone profit after-tax by 11%).