Raymond Q4 results: Profit drops 26% to ₹194 cr; declares dividend of ₹3

Textile major Raymond on Tuesday reported 26% year-on-year fall in consolidated net profit to ₹194 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023. The fabric and fashion retailer had posted profit of ₹263 crore in the March 2022 quarter, it said in a BSE filing today.

The Gautam Singhania-led firm clocked a 8% growth in consolidated net revenue to ₹2,192 crore in the March 2023 quarter as compared with ₹2,032 crore in the same period last year.

On the operational front, EBITDA stood at ₹379 crore versus ₹358 crore in the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 6%. The EBITDA margin, however, declined by 34 basis points to 17.3% from 17.6% in Q4FY22.

For the full financial year 2023 (FY23), Raymond posted the "highest ever" consolidated revenue and EBITDA of ₹8,337 crore and ₹1,322 crore respectively. The company clocked a healthy revenue growth of 31%, while EBITDA jumped 50% as compared to the previous fiscal, led by a strong momentum and a robust performance. The consolidated profit for the year more than doubled to ₹529 crore from ₹260 crore in FY22.

The apparel retailer reduced consolidated net debt by ₹399 crore to ₹689 crore as of March 31, 2023 as compared to ₹1,088 crore as on March 31, 2022. The sustained net debt reduction year on year basis has been a result of free cash-flow generation driven by strong profitability and working capital optimisation, the company said in its earnings report.

Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, Raymond said, “FY23 has been an year of exponential growth, as we doubled our net profit compared to previous year with strong growth in revenues delivered across all businesses.”

“As we have charted out a clear roadmap for sustained growth, the recent corporate action announcements will fuel the company’s future with a clear focus on B2C lifestyle business and real estate business. In our continued commitment to create shareholder value, I am delighted to state that these two new entities will be zero net debt and are poised to scale new heights,” he added.

As per the company, the recent decision to demerge the lifestyle business will now result into two independent net debt free listed entities of pure play B2C focused Lifestyle and real estate businesses with significant liquidity surplus at the Group level to spur future growth.

Last month, Raymond subsidiary, Raymond Consumer Care, that owns deodorants and sexual wellness brands like Park Avenue and KamaSutra, sold its FMCG business to Godrej Consumer Products for ₹2,825 crore.

The board of Raymond also declared dividend payment of 30% on the equity share capital, amounting to ₹3 per equity share of the face value of ₹10 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2023, subject to shareholders’ approval. The dividend, if approved by the shareholders, will be paid on or after July 11, 2023. In the past 12 months, Raymond has declared an equity dividend amounting to ₹3 per share, while it paid 18 dividends since its listing in 1999.

Post Q4 results, the shares of Raymond closed at ₹1,585.10 apiece, down 0.1% on the BSE. Early today, the stock opened higher at ₹1,600.50 against the previous closing price of ₹1,586.70, while it touched an intraday high and low of ₹1,625 and ₹1,566, respectively, during the session.