Shoppers Stop Ltd, which operates 84 department stores in 44 Indian cities, as well as 127 specialty beauty stores for brands including M.A.C, Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Smash box and Jo Malone, saw sales largely recover in the fourth quarter of India’s fiscal year, from January to March, declining 10 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Quarterly sales revenue reached 825 crore rupees ($113 million) with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) reaching 10.5 crore rupees ($1.44 million).

“Business recovery until mid-March had been very encouraging. However, with surge in Covid-19 cases, we witnessed a drop in footfall resulting into drop in revenue,” Venu Nair, Shoppers Stop MD and CEO, said.

“Despite the Covid-19 impact, we had strong performances in all our strategic pillars. Our omnichannel sales grew by 188 percent and Private Brands’ volume grew by 38 percent [in the fourth quarter year-on-year],” he added.

The company’s plans for store expansion were deferred due to the Covid-19 impact in the last fiscal year, but plans remain in place to add more than 20 new stores this year, Nair said.