India's Trent beats Q1 revenue view on higher footfalls

BENGALURU, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Indian merchandise retailer and hypermarket operator Trent (TREN.NS) on Wednesday beat first-quarter revenue estimates, aided by an increase in footfalls.

Consolidated revenue rose nearly 46% year-on-year to 26.28 billion rupees ($317.4 million) for the quarter ended June 30, compared to analysts estimate of 22.81 billion as per Refinitiv data.

Consolidated net profit rose more than 30% to 1.73 billion rupees ($20.9 million), while total expenses rose nearly 44% due to higher purchases of stock-in-trade and employee costs.

Tata Group-owned Trent, which also owns and operates the Star Bazaar hypermarket chain in partnership with UKs Tesco, has been rapidly expanding its fast-fashion Zudio outlets.

In fiscal 2023, Trent added 158 new stores, bringing the total to 590. As of March 31, it operates 214 Westside stores, 352 Zudio stores and 24 stores across its other lifestyle brands.

Last month, rival Shoppers Stop (SHOP.NS), which competes with Trents premium Westside stores, reported a more than 34% slump in first-quarter profit, hurt by discounts and investments to beef up its business.

Shares of Trent increased rose over 5% after the results.

($1 = 82.7870 Indian rupees)