The immediate reaction to the Q4FY20 earning of Trent was very good – the stock, which had closed on Friday at Rs.442.70, opened higher at Rs.451 and rose to an intraday high at Rs.456.40. From there though it slipped to Rs.437 and is now traded at Rs.445 levels, just about in the green.

The company posted a turnaround performance with consolidated net profit coming in at Rs.13 crore v/s loss of Rs.4 crore (YoY). This was on a 25% jump in consolidated total income at Rs.880 crore.

The market is obviously keeping the mood on the counter subdued as one does not know how retail companies like Trent will as such function in the backdrop of Covid. Demand has already hit the company’s March sales due to the lockdown and though the company said that 70 of its fashion stores (Westside/ Zudio/ Utsa) have reopened, it will take a while for demand to kick in. With curbs on people’s movements and uncertainty over income and jobs being the biggest concern, buying non-essentials is not expected to take off in the next couple of months.