Footwear retailer Bata India reported a 27% growth in its fourth quarter net profit at ₹35.9 crore even as its yearly profit dipped to ₹158.7 crore from ₹217.5 crore in the year-earlier period due to higher costs.
Higher employee benefit expenditure and a substantial rise in finance costs resulted in the lower bottomline as its revenue from operations rose to ₹2,497.2 crore for the year ending March 31 from ₹ 2,448.5 crore in the year-earlier period. The company said in a filing that it “had a healthy 27 % growth in its fourth quarter net profit which rose to ₹35.9 crore on the back of a 6 % increase in its net sales/income to ₹598 crore.” “This year, we will be following our strategy of driving store growth in both urban and Tier II markets, apart from launching new collections in the women and youth categories,” said Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, president, South Asia, Bata Emerging Markets.