By Ananta Agarwal and Ashna Teresa Britto
(Reuters) -Shares of Trent plunged 9% on Thursday after analysts raised concerns about the Indian apparel chain’s slowing revenue growth and ability to meet its annual store opening target.
The company, home to brands such as Westside, Zudio and Utsa, has been one of India’s fastest-growing clothing chains. Its Zudio brand, known for its affordable merchandise, has been especially popular with the masses.
Trent’s revenue in the October-December quarter rose 34.3% to 46.57 billion rupees ($531.9 million), its slowest pace since the quarter ended March 2021.
“Trent’s revenue came in around 35% for the second straight quarter, which is not the trend for the company which has posted revenue growth above 40% continuously in previous quarters,” Centrum India analyst Soham Samanta said.
Karan Taurani, equity analyst at Elara Securities, said that the stock has declined due to higher growth expectations.
The company has added 90 Zudio stores so far this financial year, indicating it might not meet analyst expectations on that front, according to Samanta, who expected it to open 150 to 170 stores in fiscal year 2025.
Trent’s profit rose about 34% to about 5 billion rupees, while analysts, on average, expected 4.46 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
($1 = 87.5370 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal and Ashna Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Dhanya Skariachan)
