Footwear maker Bata India chairman Ashwini Windlass is optimistic about the company's future growth given the market outlook and said it is focusing on strategies to retain a high growth trajectory that includes expanding its distribution footprint.
Bata India's net profit jumped to Rs 319 crore in 2022-23, up from Rs 100 crore in the previous year. Revenue for the year was Rs 3,451.5 crore, Windlass told shareholders at the company's 90th AGM.
The company's retail sales accounted for 75 per cent of its revenue and non-retail the remaining 25 per cent, while R&D expenses during 2022-23 were over Rs 6 crore, he said.
The company will invest about Rs 100 crore during the year and will focus on 'casualisation' and 'premiumisation'.
It will expand in the multiformat, besides in digital footprint and agile supply chain, he said.
Windlass said Bata India wants shorter lifecycles of products tracking the latest fashion and non-footwear is a focus area.
Bata India has recently started trials for sports apparel and the company's current non-footwear revenue contribution is 6.5 per cent, Windlass said adding the company is focusing on growth based on evolution, expansion and efficiency.
Bata India MD and CEO Gunjan Shah told the AGM that the company in FY 2022-23 launched its first 'Red Label by Bata' store concept with exclusive offerings to high-end fashion consumers, besides introducing in a phased manner its 'Shoe Care Programme', a cost-effective shoe insurance.
The programme is currently available in its 500 stores across the country and will be expanded, he said.
The company is looking at the growth and expansion of both its franchisee and multi-brand stores. In FY'23 it crossed 2,000 plus stores across all formats and will expand its presence in smaller towns and cities and will collaborate with small and medium entrepreneurs to bring franchisee stores under the Bata fold to expand the availability of its products across the country.
"In the multi-brand distribution journey, we had some impact due to unprecedented inflation. We navigated it by hiking prices. We are now almost in 1,400 towns and confident that with our portfolio and stabilisation in the inflation point of view. We expect high growth ahead from this channel," Shah said.
He said, Bata India aims to expand the number of franchisee stores to 500 by 2025. In FY'23 the company added a record 116 franchisee stores to increase their total number to 416 in 370 plus towns in the country. A total 60 per cent of its existing partners are expanding.
Shah said a franchise is an "extremely profitable business" and will continue to expand as a large hinterland is available across the length and breadth of the country, he said.
Digital channel sales account for 12 per cent of the turnover and the company is present on other e-commerce platforms and its own e-commerce portal -- Bata.in, Windlass said.
Bata has a total 9,800 employees of whom 15 per cent are female. It has an all-women stores concept.
