Though there were significantly fewer Muhurats and lesser number of weddings during Q3 FY 22-23, Vedant Fashions, which owns and operates brands such as Manyavar, Mohey, Mebaz, Twamev and Manthan reported healthy growth in its revenues, Gross Margins, EBITDA and PAT. The company operates 640 Exclusive Brand Outlets in 242 cities in India and abroad. The company’s products are also available at Large Format stores such as Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, etc. as well as Multibrand Outlets such as Jade Blue.
In the 9M FY 22-23, the company has rolled out 45 new stores and has a total EBO presence of 14 lakh sq. ft.
In its Quarterly Financial Presentation, the company informed that when compared to Q3 FY 1920, its revenues have grown 29.6% for the previous Quarter while the Same Stores Sales Growth (SSSG) has been 16.9% for the comparative period. This is a phenomenal growth story clearly indicating that customers are back to shopping Ethnic wear, a clear signal that the Big Fat Indian Wedding is back in action and news.
Though wedding events have subdued in the past few years, more so because of cultural changes and preferences by the gen Z & the Millennials, the fact that customers are spending heavily on ethnic wear is good news.
Around the 2000s, the Indian Wedding events shot to prominence on the back of similar wedding ceremonies as portrayed in Bollywood movies, especially. That was also the time when Manyavar shot to prominence with its first store in Bhubaneswar in 2002, the year Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham feat. Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan released in theatres. Ever since, Indian Weddings, especially in North & West India have become bigger and better.
Theme based weddings were a rage before the pandemic with the rich & mighty chartering full flights for their guests to exotic locations while the aspirational middle class took their families in a/c buses to far off locations. Cut to 2020 – weddings were restricted to a screen on the mobile, or at best a PC monitor. Except the priest and the couple, there were several instances where even their parents were missing. This had a huge impact on the Rs. 40,000 Cr pa Ethnic wear retail business, which is led by Manyavar in the branded segment. On the unbranded front, which is over Rs. 30,000 Cr pa. shopkeepers were left with thousands of pieces – which were neither purchased by customers nor were taken back by their suppliers.
Manyavar’s parent Vedant Fashions listed their shares in the Indian Stock Markets in Feb. 2022 at Rs. 720 per share and is currently trading at Rs. 1,190 with a M-Cap of Rs. 29,000 Cr approx. The fact that the company’s working capital is down to 129 days vs. 170 days in the previous quarter is that the volume of sales as well as the speed of sales (read: Qty of Sales) have been improving. Good days ahead of the Summer Wedding season.