Trent Ltd

Last modified by Wilton Risenhoover on 2023/04/14 01:54

Summary

  • Trent Ltd was originally incorporated as Lakme Limited (“Lakme”) on December 5, 1952.
  • with effect from July 1, 1998, Trent Limited was amalgamated with Lakme, and the name of Lakme Limited was changed to Trent Limited.
  • Trent’s flagship concept- Westside offers branded fashion apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and children, along with a range of home furnishings & décor.
  • Westside contributes a majority of the Company’s revenues.

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Company Overview

Trent Ltd (NSE:TRENT) was originally incorporated as Lakme Limited (“Lakme”) on December 5, 1952. Lakme was in the business of manufacturing, sale and export of cosmetics, toiletries and perfumery products. In 1998, Lakme decided to divest from its cosmetics business and decided to pursue the field of apparel retailing, given the absence of established brands in most categories. It was decided that Lakme would establish a strong presence in the apparel and soft goods retailing market by opening a chain of departmental stores across the country.1

Towards this end, in March 1998, Lakme acquired Littlewoods International (India) Private Limited (“LIIPL”) from Littlewoods International Limited, U.K. LIIPL was in the business of retailing of readymade garments and related merchandise. In parallel, with effect from January 1, 1998, Lakme Exports Limited, a subsidiary of Lakme, was amalgamated with LIIPL and the merged entity was named as Trent Limited. Subsequently, with effect from July 1, 1998, Trent Limited was amalgamated with Lakme, and the name of Lakme Limited was changed to Trent Limited.

Brands

Westside

As part of the Tata Group, Trent’s flagship concept- Westside offers branded fashion apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and children, along with a range of home furnishings & decor. This offer is presented through a differentiated portfolio of exclusive brands that are in tune with latest fashion trends appealing to a wide spectrum of style conscious consumers across defined customer segments. This differentiated approach also aids in competing effectively in the face of disintermediation risks posed by diverse competition.

Zudio

Trent’s value fashion concept- Zudio offers fashion at irresistible prices for men, women and children. Exclusive fashion is curated in-house and made available at very sharp price points

Star Market

Hypermarket and supermarket store chain - Operating under “Star Market” concept offers an assortment of products, including staples, beverages, health & beauty products along with a comprehensive fresh offering (vegetables, fruits, dairy, non vegetarian products). The offering is also supported by a compelling range of own brands at attractive prices.

Landmark

A family entertainment concept – Landmark offers a curated range of toys, frontlist books, stationery and sports merchandise. Backend operations relating to the concept are significantly integrated with Westside to realize synergies and contain overhead costs.

Utsa

Utsa is a modern Indian lifestyle destination which offers ethnic apparel, beauty products and accessories Celebrating Indian-ness

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Stores

The company operates over 400 stores across 100 plus cities in India.

Retail conceptsStoresCities
Westside17490
Zudio13357
Star607
Zara2111
Booker/ Value Mandi93
Landmark64
Utsa44
Massimo Dutti32

Subsidiaries & Associate

Zara and Massimo Dutti

The Company has two separate associations with the Inditex group of Spain with a shareholding of 51 percent (Inditex): 49 percent (Trent) – one entity to operate Zara stores and the other for Massimo Dutti stores in India. The entities essentially facilitate distribution of Zara & Massimo Dutti products in India through their respective stores. The entity for Zara Stores currently operates 21 stores in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Surat, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata & Gurgaon.2

Including in the context of brand ownership and the arrangements for merchandise supply (with the majority partner entirely controlling these core customer propositions and the terms thereto), Trent views its related commitments as a financial investment.

Fiora Business Support Services Limited (FBSSL)

FBSSL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. It is engaged in providing business support and consultancy services relating to accounting, merchandising, human resources, payroll etc. to the Company & related businesses.

Fiora Hypermarket Limited (FHL)

FHL (a subsidiary of Booker India Ltd), operates a few of the Star stores in the context of the applicable regulations with respect to FDI in Multi Brand Retail Trading.

Booker India Limited (BIL)

BIL (formerly Booker India Private Limited) was acquired by the Company in FY20. BIL operates cash and carry stores under the Booker Wholesale banner. BIL presently has 6 stores in Maharashtra and Gujarat with products in categories across staples, processed foods, confectionery, personal care, home care, soft drinks, dairy, chilled & frozen foods, bakery, fresh fruits, vegetables etc. Its customers comprise kirana stores, traders, wholesalers, small businesses, hotels, restaurants and caterers. BIL served approximately 22,000 trade customers during FY20.

BIL has undertaken an initiative that assists independent kirana stores upgrade and modernize their in-store layouts, offerings and supports inventory management. While these stores are independently run and owned, they carry BIL’s ‘Happy Shopper’ branding. BIL currently serves more than 230 such stores. It also offers private labels with quality and affordability proposition, helping improve margins for store partners.

Trent Hypermarket Pvt Ltd

Star stores are primarily operated by Trent Hypermarket Private Limited (THPL) - a 50:50 JV between Trent Ltd & Tesco Plc UK. The portfolio comprises hypermarket and supermarket stores focusing on categories like food and groceries, home care, apparel, home décor, health and beauty products. Current portfolio of 52 stores comprise 9 Star Hyper and 43 Star Market stores primarily concentrated in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

Star Market is the anchor concept targeted to address complete needs of customers for groceries, fresh produce, FMCG products, personal grooming and general merchandise in around 7,000 - 10,000 square feet footprint.

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Industry Overview

Retail in India

Retailing is one of the pillars of the Indian economy. At an estimated size in the region of US$ 1 trillion, India is one of the top five retail markets globally. It is also one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world.3

FY21 was a challenging year for Indian retail with extended & intermittent lockdowns. Nevertheless, the sector is seen to be poised for strong growth over the medium to long term.

Fashion and lifestyle market

Fashion retail market in India has witnessed various changes and challenges in recent years but has nevertheless been growing consistently. This growth is indicative of the country’s evolving fashion and lifestyle preferences.

Value fashion is a promising segment in fashion retail with the potential of appealing to a wider customer base and reaching more addressable geographies. Popular and mass-priced products possibly constitute over 75% of the total fashion market in India.

Online and offline fashion players are increasing focus on building private labels/ in-house brands to provide differentiated offerings to discerning customers. Private labels have additional inherent advantages such as lower concept to customer time, faster execution vis-à-vis dealing with third party brands, better control over quality & pricing and better margins.

There is also a growing emphasis on enriching customer experience. Window displays, in-store ambience, coordinated product displays, lighting, music and communication help build brand presence and awareness. Exciting visual merchandising forms a key element in enhancing customer experience. Growing awareness, coupled with entry of international players in the industry is spotlighting visual merchandising as an integral proposition of retail.

Food & Grocery retail (F&G)

F&G in India is currently dominated by the unorganized segment which constitutes well over 90% of the market. Within the overall organized brick and mortar retail, F&G was expected to be the largest, with share in the region of 27% in 2020, aided by improved assortment of offerings, convenience and increased reach.

Increasing acceptance of technology/ digital

Pandemic related restrictions brought about a paradigm shift in consumer behaviour. Consumers staying at home hastened adoption of digital shopping methods. Ubiquitous access to internet at more affordable prices and higher penetration of digital devices are influencing consumer buying behaviour.

Increasingly, store & online channels are integrating, with consumers leveraging access to compare products, prices, brand offerings and the feedback / opinions of fellow consumers before making their purchase decision. The Indian e-commerce market penetration is expected to increase as total gross merchandise value is expected to grow from US$ 60 bn in 2020 to US$ 99 bn by 2024 , driven by wider assortment and convenience.

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Business Overview

Westside

Westside contributes a majority of the Company’s revenues. The business has progressively evolved into a unique model with its aspirational & exclusive retail brands coupled with customer-pull led offerings. As of end March 2021, Westside had 174 stores across 90 cities with additional online reach across India exclusively through Westside.com and Tata Cliq.

In the recent years, Westside has transitioned entirely to its exclusive retail brands across the spectrum of its offerings. Over 85% of merchandise is sourced from within India, enabling rapid access, proximate relationships and greater visibility. Westside’s business model allows active control across the value chain with respect to key aspects of design, branding, sourcing, logistics, pricing, display, promotion and selling. This enables quick conversion from concept to products in stores, delivering latest fashion trends through its portfolio of differentiated retail brands. This approach has been more sustainable than business models which retail third party brands, from various perspectives, including from a ‘return on capital employed’ context. Empirical evidence also seems to suggest that globally, retailers who control the entire value chain are relatively more resilient.

Westside offers a portfolio of exclusive and differentiated fashion brands. The company's teams, from design to customer service, continually work to understand customers’ unique fashion tastes and seek to provide products in a fast and agile manner.

The company's retail brands are spread across customer lifestyles and price tiers to ensure that distinct customer segments are addressed with relevant propositions. This segmentation provides its customers with distinct choices and makes it easier for them to shop, as they can identify the ranges most suited to their preferences. Exciting campaigns through brand videos and social media engagement further support its brands in communicating their unique identities.

The association of fashion with beauty is relatively seamless with its audience. As its beauty offerings continue to grow, Trent is enthusiastic about building this business further as a destination category by providing its customers with differentiated, high quality and yet attractively priced products.

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Zudio

Zudio addresses fashion needs of discerning customers at sharp price points, with backend functions entirely integrated with Westside. As at end of March 2021, Zudio was present through 133 stores, including 19 stores co-located with Star. Zudio’s category range now covers womenswear (western & ethnic), lingerie, kidswear, menswear, footwear, accessories and beauty. Zudio continues to present significant growth opportunities in value fashion retail.

Zudio focuses entirely on exclusive branded offerings, curated in-house and in line with the latest fashion trends at sharp prices. The offerings are constantly refreshed with the aim to provide new and updated merchandise to customers on every visit. Apart from ensuring differentiated fashion and experience for customers, active control of value chain is integral to evolving a sustainable business model for this concept. Pitched at a younger audience, the company recognize it is critical to be fashion forward and closely synchronized with evolving trends. Hence, as with Westside, the emphasis is on minimizing lead times and landing fresh collections in stores as quickly as possible. The aspiration is to constantly shrink the time window between initial design concept to being available on shelf. Merchandise is almost entirely sourced from within India as a matter of choice affording access, speed & flexibility. The Zudio format is gaining traction and registered encouraging results in the second half of FY21, post resumption of operations.

Zudio stores are located in attractive/ prominent schemes and aim to offer an exciting shopping experience for customers. The intent is to have ubiquitous presence over time to aid convenient access and brand visibility. As with Westside, prominent stores, striking windows & in-store displays and exciting store ambience are key ingredients to driving trial & traction from its audience.

The pandemic related disruptions impacted revenues, especially in H1. Nevertheless, the concept witnessed strong recovery in the second half led by the LFL store portfolio. Incidentally, the concept registered a healthy LFL in multiple markets in Q4 when adjusted for actual trading days (given the second wave related temporary closures in March 2021). Relative to the Westside concept, the accelerated recovery is to be seen in the context of Zudio locations being primarily stand-alone.

Zudio is now present across 148 locations (including 15 additional stores that were fitted out and ready). The fitted-out stores would open once Covid related restrictions are eased/ approvals are in place. With an average store footprint of 6,000-8,000 sq. ft., the concept affords expansion across numerous micromarkets. The capital employed for a new company leased and operated Zudio store is in the region of ₹ 3-4 Crores including capex, deposits and inventory

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Star

Star stores are primarily operated by Trent Hypermarket Private Limited (THPL) - a 50:50 JV between Trent Ltd. & Tesco Plc UK. The portfolio comprises hypermarket and supermarket stores focusing on categories like food and groceries, home care, apparel, home décor, health and beauty products. Current portfolio of 52 stores comprises 43 Star Market stores and 9 Star Hypers primarily concentrated in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. In addition, Fiora Hypermarket Ltd. (FHL), a subsidiary of Booker India Limited, operates 6 Star Market stores and 2 Star Hypers primarily clustered in Ahmedabad and Surat.

Star Market is the anchor concept targeted to address complete needs of customers for groceries, fresh produce, FMCG products, personal grooming and general merchandise in around 7,000 - 10,000 square feet footprint. THPL delivered total income of ₹ 1,206 Crores in FY21 vis-à-vis ₹ 1,235 Crores in FY20, a degrowth of 2.3%. The Star stores registered a corresponding marginal degrowth in LFL performance primarily on account of the Hyper stores located in malls and the pandemic related restrictions. The total comprehensive losses decreased to ₹ 97 Crores in FY21 from ₹166 Crores in FY20 on the back of emphasis on sharp pricing, moderation of marketing and other operating expenses. Revenues, especially for non-food categories, were adversely impacted by the pandemic related operating restrictions and sourcing constraints.

In this space, the company increasingly believe that in addition to delivering an exciting & differentiated offering, it is critical to establish a reputation for a very compelling price proposition for value conscious customers. This is significant as the company seek to attract & retain a critical mass of customers in each of its micro-markets and enhance the shopping basket size. This focus on price proposition has led it to have a consistent process of ensuring that its prices are comparable vis-à-vis other food retailers. At the same time, in order to recoup margins and deliver sustainability, Trent is emphasizing efficiency across the board and have shrunk overheads materially, even as the company protect and enhance its core brand propositions.

Increased efficiency, assortment of exclusive brands, wide array of fresh offerings and exciting prices have been the key focus areas for the concept during the year under review.

At Star, the company view the fresh offering as a key differentiator of its customer proposition. The focus is on providing a reasonably priced range of hygienic products of high quality comprising of farm produce, a compelling non-vegetarian range and bakery. Over time, the Star offer has evolved into a distinct proposition famous for ‘Fresh Foods’.

The company now directly engage with over 800 farmers and a majority of vegetables & fruits in its stores are directly sourced and serviced through a network of collection / distribution centres. The company believe that persevering to deliver an attractive fresh products proposition would, over time, significantly improve its differentiation in the marketplace and stickiness of the customers the company seek to serve. This agenda is also in cognizance of the fact that fresh products market is largely unorganized and nevertheless, has enormous consumption reach and penetration.

The company believe that exclusive branded offerings are key to evolving a sustainable business model. In a competitive food & grocery market, the company seek to set itself  apart with superior quality and competitively priced exclusive brands. In this context, Trent has continued to expand its exclusive range in defined categories at affordable prices and great quality, benchmarked with leading brands. The company's exclusive retail brands (excluding staples, fresh & apparel) comprised 9.5% share amongst participating categories in FY21. As with Fresh Foods, majority of the staples are directly sourced from farmers.

The company's exclusive retail brands span more than 450 SKUs and have continued to witness encouraging offtake in FY21. In several sub-categories, its brands rank one or two in terms of sales and hence compete effectively with leading brands in its stores.

Landmark

Landmark is an entertainment & leisure concept that offers a striking range of curated lifestyle products including toys, frontlist books, stationery, latest gadgets and sports merchandise. Leveraging the strength of Westside’s backend operations, the format has been able to drive synergies and contain overheads. Landmark portfolio added 2 new stores during the year taking the total count to 6 standalone stores. In addition to standalone stores, Landmark merchandise is also retailed through select 9 Westside locations as a shop-in-shop model.

The product portfolio has been revamped to cater to emerging lifestyle trends and to stay relevant for its customers with focus on trending product opportunities. In line with current retail trends, Landmark has launched a new exciting and vibrant store format, Landmark Xcite, with unique products in select micro-markets. The Landmark Xcite stores are fun, young, trendy, with exclusive products in the entertainment & lifestyle space for millennial and Gen Z customers. The company strive to delight its customers through its fresh & quirky merchandise clubbed with every day awesome experiences.

Toys is the leading category, followed by sports merchandise and tech gadgets. Frontlist books & stationery continue to be an integral part of Landmark. In addition, an exciting range of gadgets and gaming products is now available online through Tata Cliq.

The company collaborate with social media influencers to leverage their reach and amplify the brand and its offerings. Landmark’s positioning “For the child in all of us” has been backed by a belief to create extensive & exclusive customer engagement by creating Instagrammable moments through events on social media platforms (Facebook & Instagram) via collaboration and digital led activities. During the year, the company conducted series of digital events such as the first online edition of the Landmark quiz, Lego workshop, Bookmark making & DIY workshops etc. These online events helped it with high engagements on social media channels & ramp up follower base garnering over 4 million interactions across all age groups.

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Financial Highlights

On a standalone basis for FY21, the Company has reported total income of ₹ 2,251.77 Crores (₹ 3,334.35 Crores in FY20), loss after tax of ₹ 51.02 Crores (₹ 154.58 Crores profit after tax in FY20) and total comprehensive income of ₹ 52.42 Crores (₹ 152.04 Crores in FY20). Loss from operations was ₹ 61.9 Crores impacted by pandemic related temporary closures and trading restrictions. Profit/ Loss from operations is before other income, finance costs, exceptional items & tax and excluding impact of IndAS 116 accounting standard on various line items.

As of 31st March ‘21, Trent has 174 Westside and 133 Zudio stores in the portfolio. Further, an additional 19 Westside and 15 Zudio stores were fitted out and ready to open. These 34 stores would open once Covid related restrictions are eased/ operating approvals are in place. Together with the fitted-out locations, in FY21, the portfolio of fashion stores expanded by over 80 stores.

On a consolidated basis, the Company has reported total income of ₹ 2,794.56 Crores (₹ 3,635.40 Crores FY20), loss after tax of ₹ 181.13 Crores (profit after tax of ₹ 105.98 Crores in FY20) and total comprehensive loss of ₹ 74.03 Crores (total comprehensive income of ₹ 100.00 Crores in FY20). The Company registered degrowth of 26% in consolidated revenue from operations from ₹ 3,485.98 Crores in FY20 to ₹ 2,592.96 Crores in the year under review. The net effect of Ind AS 116 on the consolidated profit before tax for the year ended March 2021 was an adverse impact of ₹ 40 Crores.

Trent Consolidated June 2021

August 10, 2021; Reported Consolidated quarterly numbers for Trent are:4

Net Sales at Rs 491.99 crore in June 2021 up 98.06% from Rs. 248.41 crore in June 2020.

Quarterly Net Loss at Rs. 126.59 crore in June 2021 up 28.69% from Rs. 177.53 crore in June 2020.

EBITDA stands at Rs. 9.67 crore in June 2021 up 113.99% from Rs. 69.11 crore in June 2020.

Recent developments

14 stocks to benefit from Cabinet nod to Rs 10,683-crore PLI scheme for textile sector5

September 09, 2021 The Union Cabinet at a meeting on September 8, approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the textiles sector. The five-year scheme offers Rs 10,863 crore to the synthetic or man-made fiber (MMF) and so-called technical textiles segments.

The scheme that will provide incentives for the production of these products is expected to create 750,000 new jobs and help Indian textile producers switch from cotton textiles to the new products that account for two-thirds of the global textile manufacturing, textiles minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

The package is expected to boost the textile sector; it will not only promote high-value MMF fabrics and apparel as well as technical textiles, but also encourage industry to add more capacity and reinforce its workforce.

Man-made fibers are produced by humans through chemical synthesis as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms.

MMFS such as nylon, polyester, acrylic, rayon and polyolefin dominate global apparel production.

Technical textiles are a futuristic segment of textiles used  in a vast array of applications such as agriculture, roads, railway tracks, military purposes and disaster management.

"The textile industry indeed has a tremendous potential and this PLI was long due, the country has abundant resources of raw materials and industrial setup with required labour. This Incentive scheme is expected to further benefit and optimise the firms," said Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research.

The incentive plan has been designed in such a way that the new and increased investments and capacity building in man-made fibres is rewarding. Tax rebates and refunds are expected to aid manufacturers and increase the competitiveness of Indian textile products in markets across globe.

Sandeep Matta, founder of TRADEIT Investment Advisor, said the scheme had been designed to promote high-value MMF fabrics, garments, and technical textiles and encourage the industry to augment its capacity; it would also expand the participation of tier-3 and tier-4 cities in the formal economy.

It will support other related textile domains that will lead to economies of scale and make India an integral part of the global supply chain, said Rajiv Kapoor, Vice-President at Trustline, a securities firm.

Stocks to benefit from PLI scheme

The scheme is expected to benefit organised players in the textile, apparel and retail segments, said Garg of CapitalVia Global, adding that it would boost Trent, Raymond Group and KPR Mill.

Trent had seen decent sales growth and return on equity (ROE) until FY20 but could not keep it up in FY21 due to onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the opening up of the economy and normalization by way of vaccination, the stock is expected to benefit.

References

  1. ^ https://trentlimited.com/pages/about-us
  2. ^ https://trentlimited.com/pages/subsidiaries-associates
  3. ^ https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0533/2457/8994/files/Sixty_Ninth_Anuual_Report_2020-2021_1.pdf?v=1623933933
  4. ^ https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/earnings/trent-consolidated-june-2021-net-sales-at-rs-491-99-crore-up-98-06-y-o-y-7311381.html
  5. ^ https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/14-stocks-to-benefit-from-cabinet-nod-to-rs-10683-crore-pli-scheme-for-textile-sector-7448481.html
Tags: IN:TRENT
Created by Asif Farooqui on 2021/09/29 06:44
     
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