DMart: Eyes on margin, new CEO

The Avenue Supermarts Ltd stock is back to square one. Investors were thrilled when the company, which runs the DMart supermarket chain, said earlier this month that its December quarter (Q3FY25) standalone year-on-year revenue growth came in at 17.5%.

- Pallavi Pengonda

The Avenue Supermarts Ltd stock is back to square one. Investors were thrilled when the company, which runs the DMart supermarket chain, said earlier this month that its December quarter (Q3FY25) standalone year-on-year revenue growth came in at 17.5%. The better-than-expected show meant Avenue's shares closed almost 12% higher on 3 January.

However, the optimism was short-lived due to subdued broader markets and worries about how the margin would pan out. Margin fears came true. Q3 results revealed Avenue's operating margin fell at a sharper-than-expected pace. Avenue's shares dropped by around 5% on Monday to ₹3,507.45 apiece, below the levels seen on 2 January. The company's Ebitda margin contracted 53 basis points (bps) year-on-year to 7.9% in the quarter.