Trent Q2 revenue jumps 23% to Rs 5,788 crore as Zudio opens 1,000th store

Tata Group's retail business Trent posted a 23 per cent year-on-year rise in standalone revenue to Rs 5,788 crore for the quarter ended September 30, supported by steady expansion across its clothing chains.

The provisional business update filed with stock exchanges showed standalone revenue from operations, excluding goods and services tax, climbed from Rs 4,724 crore in the same period last year. Revenue strictly from merchandise sales also grew 23 per cent during the three months.

For the first half of the financial year, Trent recorded standalone revenue of Rs 11,454 crore, up 21 per cent from Rs 9,505 crore a year earlier.

Zudio crosses the 1,000-store mark

The quarter brought a major retail milestone for Trent's budget fashion arm, Zudio, which opened its 1,000th store. Trent added a net 17 Zudio outlets and 10 Westside stores during the three-month period. Over the first six months of the financial year, net additions reached 36 Zudio stores and 11 Westside stores.

That lifted Trent's overall footprint across Westside, Zudio and its allied lifestyle banners to 1,342 stores by the end of September.

The pace represents a slight deceleration in new floor space compared with the previous fiscal year, when the company opened 243 net locations. Yet revenue growth accelerated from the 16 to 20 per cent range recorded over the prior five quarters.

Market reaction and analyst view

Investors responded quickly to the quarterly update. After finishing Monday flat at Rs 2,580 on the National Stock Exchange, Trent shares surged as much as 12.75 per cent in early Tuesday trade to touch a session peak of Rs 2,909.

Before Tuesday's rally, the stock had dropped roughly 10 per cent since the start of the calendar year and remained down nearly 20 per cent over the past twelve months. Trent had touched a 52-week peak of Rs 3,399.70 in July.

Brokerage analysts noted that the top-line numbers ran ahead of expectations, especially given that the timing of the autumn festival season shifted major shopping volumes out of the second quarter and into the third.

Morgan Stanley noted that Trent's 23 per cent revenue growth delivered a clear beat against consensus expectations of around 18 per cent, though it cautioned that operating margins remain the critical metric to monitor once full quarterly earnings arrive.

Analysts at Citi also highlighted that the revenue print exceeded projections despite store additions coming in lower than forecast. However, Citi maintained a more cautious stance, pointing to risks from raw material cost inflation, growing competition in value fashion, and a continued year-on-year drop in average revenue per square foot, which fell an estimated 8.4 per cent during the quarter.