On October 14, brokerage firm IIFL has put coverage on footwear brands with focus on Bata India, Metro Brands and Relaxo. The brokerage firm believes that the organized footwear industry in India is well positioned to deliver mid-teen growth in the medium term, driven by consistent earnings growth and the continued shift towards the organized channel.

Analysts expect companies with higher exposure to four themes - women's footwear, premium footwear, sports and athleisure, and brand outlets - to be well-positioned to deliver high growth. IIFL has initiated a 'Buy' rating on Bata India and Metro Brands and set a target price of Rs 1,700 and Rs 1,425, respectively. This means it sees a potential upside of 22% and 17.7% in both stocks from their closing prices on October 11. On Relaxo Footwears, the brokerage has initiated a Reduce rating with a target price of 700, indicating a potential downside of 12.6% in the stock. Downtrend continues So far in 2024 (year-to-date), Bata India has declined 14%, Metro Brands has declined 3.5%. Relaxo has declined 12%. The benchmark Nifty 50 has gained 15% during this period. Metro Brands tops IIFL's list, followed by Bata India, Campus and Relaxo. The brokerage coverage comes at a time when Metro Brands is aggressively expanding its store network. In August, Metro Brands said it plans to open 225 stores in the next two business years, excluding any potential new Fila stores. In the April-June 2024 quarter, the company launched 15 stores. It aims to add over 100 stores this business year, while the remaining stores will be added next year. This was when the industry saw a subdued demand environment in the previous business year.