RK Sharma, the Chief Financial Officer at Monte Carlo Fashions, anticipates a recovery in demand despite a sluggish phase, foreseeing a bounce-back in the January-March quarter. Sharma highlighted an expectation of flat to single-digit growth this year, a contrast from the over 23 per cent growth experienced last year, owing to sluggish retail demand in the first half of FY ’24 in the Indian economy. However, he considers this slowdown to be temporary and predicts a resurgence in Q4, reported ETCFO.
Sharma expressed confidence in the company’s store expansion plans despite the current sluggish retail demand, maintaining an optimistic outlook for the industry in both the medium and long term.
“We don’t see the demand hitting our store expansion trajectory as of now. We have plans to open 45-50 exclusive brand outlets this fiscal and we are on track. On the contrary, we have increased this target by another 10 stores to 60 stores next year (FY ’25),” explained the CFO.
Monte Carlo predominantly operates through franchise-owned-franchise-operated (FOFO) stores, which minimises major capital expenditure for the company. However, around 10 per cent of their stores follow the Company-Owned-Company-Operated model, with each store incurring approximately Rs. 40 lakh in showroom costs.
As of the close of FY ’23, Monte Carlo boasted a total of 356 store outlets. In the previous fiscal year (FY ’23), the company’s business witnessed a growth of 22 per cent, reaching around Rs 1,100 crore in revenue.
