Avenue Supermarts Limited Q3FY26 / 9M FY26 Concall Decoded: – Stores multiply, margins diet, and DMart keeps selling soap faster than optimism

1. Opening Hook

While quick-commerce startups were busy burning VC money delivering chips at midnight, DMart did what it does best—quietly sold groceries, added stores, and bored the market with consistency. No drama, no buzzwords, no AI-powered samosas. Just aisles, discounts, and relentless execution.

9M FY26 wasn’t flashy, but it was very DMart. Revenues marched ahead, stores kept popping up cluster by cluster, and margins politely refused to expand. Like-for-like growth cooled, but volumes didn’t panic. DMart Ready expanded cities, bills kept ringing, and square-foot productivity stayed healthy.

If you’re looking for fireworks, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for predictability disguised as discipline—read on. The story gets interesting once you stop expecting excitement.

2. At a Glance

• Revenue at ₹49,764 Cr (9M): Groceries doing grocery things—steadily.
• EBITDA ₹2,499 Cr: Margins stable, ambition clearly capped.
• PAT ₹2,307 Cr: Profits grew, but not enough to brag.
• 442 stores: Expansion continues, one pin code at a time.
• LFL growth ~5.6%: Inflation cooled, volumes stayed civil.

3. Management’s Key Commentary

“Cluster-based expansion continues across states.”
(Translation: We still don’t believe in random-store adventures.)

“Focus remains on value retailing.”
(Translation: Discounts first, margins later… maybe.)

“DMart Ready expanded to 25 cities.”
(Translation: Online is important, but not at the cost of sanity.)

“Revenue per sq ft remains healthy.”
(Translation: Stores are sweating assets properly 😏)

“Like-for-like growth moderated.”
(Translation: Inflation cooled, don’t expect miracles.)

“Private labels continue to play a key role.”
*(Translation: Margin support without shouting about it.) 🧺

4. Numbers Decoded