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Shares of Brainbees Solution-operated FirstCry fell by 4.5% to their day’s low of Rs 597.80 on the BSE after the company informed that the GST department of Mumbai has initiated an investigation at the company’s head office and a warehouse in Pune.“We wish to inform you that the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Mumbai has initiated a search/inspection on 6 th November 2024 at the head office of the Company in Pune and at one of its warehouses located at Bhamboli in Maharashtra. The Company is cooperating with the officials and is responding to all the clarifications and details sought by them,” said the company in an exchange filing.The company has also assured that the investigation has not impacted its operations and the normal business activities are running as usual.The inspection was initiated by the GST department on November 6 and the officials have not yet shared any details with the company with regards to the violations committed or alleged to have been committed by FirstCry, according to the filing shared with the stock exchanges.No further details on the matter are currently available.Also read: M&M Q2 Results: PAT rises 13% YoY to Rs 3,841 cr, beats estimatesIn another filing to the exchanges today, the company has informed that its board meeting will take place on November 14 wherein they will consider and approve their second quarter results.“This is to inform you that a meeting of Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Thursday, November 14, 2024, inter alia, to consider and approve the Unaudited Financial Results (Standalone and Consolidated) of the Company for the quarter and half year ended September 30, 2024,” the filing said.In the last one month, the shares of FirsCry have fallen by 4.2% and by 6% in the last 2 weeks, according to the BSE analytics.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Tata Group retailer Trent on Thursday reported that its September quarter standalone profit rose 46% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 423.44 crore, higher than ET Now poll estimate of Rs 414 crore. Trent's Q2 revenue rose 39.6% YoY to Rs 4,035.56 crore but was below the estimate of Rs 4,320 crore.In an otherwise subdued consumer market, Trent said its key initiatives including with respect to the product offer, the store portfolio and the operating supply chain helped deliver encouraging results."The change in revenue profile across our concepts remains broadly in line with our strategic objectives and plans. The gross margin profile of Westside and Zudio remains consistent. Overall, the Operating EBIT margin for Q2FY25 was 10.8% (9.8% for Q2FY24)," Trent said in a release.In Q2FY25, its fashion segment registered double-digit like-for-like growth. Emerging categories, contribute to over 20% of its revenues, like beauty & personal care, innerwear and footwear continued to gain traction with customers."We now operate with a significant portfolio of over 800 “large-box” fashion stores. In Q2 we continued to deepen and expand our store footprint across concepts, with presence now across 184 cities," it said.As of September-end Trent's store portfolio included 226 Westside, 577 Zudio and 28 stores across other lifestyle concepts.115048176During the quarter, it opened 7 Westside and 34 Zudio stores (including 1 in Dubai) across 27 cities. The company also consolidated 9 Westside and 16 Zudio stores.The Star business, consisting of 74 stores, including the addition of 2 stores during the quarter (8 in H1FY25), registered operating revenue growth of 27% in Q2FY25 with like-for-like growth of over 14%.The business continued to witness all-round improved operating performance, driven by our own brands, staples, fresh & our general merchandise offerings which now contribute to over 73% of revenues, it said."Consumer sentiment has remained relatively muted. This coupled with seasonality has meant that retail businesses have faced headwinds. In the forgoing context the team has delivered strong results across brands, concepts, categories and channels in Q2," said Trent Chairman Noel N Tata.He said the team has applied Trent’s playbook to the Star business and are witnessing strong customer traction."The success of own branded products augurs well for the Star business. We are confident that this business is well poised to shift gears and deliver substantial value to customers and shareholders," Tata said.Following the announcement of the results, Trent shares were trading around 4% lower at Rs 6,650 on BSE.