Key audit matters
How our audit addressed the key audit matter
(a) Revenue recognition (as described in note 1.B (B) of the standalone financial statements)
Revenue from the sale of goods is recognised when controlin goods is transferred to the customer and is measured netof rebates, discounts and returns. In some cases, discountsare offered on further sale of goods by the customers. Hence,provision for such discounts is estimated and accrued.
We have determined this to be a key audit matter as asignificant part of Company's revenue relates to sales through anumber of Company owned outlets. These transactions are ofhigh volume with individually small values which increases therisk of revenue being recognized inaccurately. It is thus essentialto ensure whether the transfer of control of goods by theCompany to the customer has occurred. Further, the Companymakes assumptions and judgements for recording discountaccrual.
Our audit procedures included the following:
• Assessed the appropriateness of the accounting policy forrevenue recognition as per the relevant accounting standards.
• Evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness ofinternal financial controls with respect to the revenue.
• For selected samples, performed testing of retail saletransactions during the year by examining the underlyingdocuments to determine the point in time at which the transferof control of goods occur and agreeing them with the cash
/ credit card / online receipts and deposit of cash amountsrecorded in daily cash reports with bank deposits.
• Tested the estimate of discounts accruals with underlyingdocumentation such as management approved norms,customer agreements, sales data and customer reconciliations,as applicable.
• Performed cash counts, on a sample basis, at selected storesand tested whether the cash balances are in agreement withcash receipts report.
Also, there is a risk that revenue may be overstated due topressure from the management and Board of Directors whomay strive to achieve performance targets.
• Tested sample journal entries out of a population of entriesrecorded during the year, selected based on specified risk-based criteria, to identify unusual items.
• Assessed that the disclosures in the financial statements is inaccordance with the accounting standards.
Impairment of Goodwill and Intangible Assets of FILA business (as described in note 48 of the standalone financial statements)
As disclosed in note 48 of standalone financial statements, theCompany has goodwill amounting to Rs. 40.37 crores and intangibleassets amounting to Rs. 106.92 crores as at March 31, 2025 whichrepresents goodwill of FILA business and intangible assets acquiredthrough demerger of FILA business of Metro Athleisure Limited(formerly known as Cravatex Brands Limited), a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of the Company into the Holding Company.
A cash generating unit ("CGU") to which goodwill has beenallocated is tested for impairment annually, or more frequentlywhen there is an indication that the unit may be impaired.
As disclosed in note 48, impairment of goodwill and intangibleassets is determined by assessing the recoverable amount ofCGU to which these assets relate.
We have identified the annual impairment assessment as keyaudit matter because of the amounts involved, complexity inassessment, judgmental by nature and further, is based onprojected future cash inflows and assumptions such as expectedgrowth rate, discount rate and terminal growth rate.
• Tested the design and the operating effectiveness of internalcontrols over the impairment assessment process includingassessment of valuation model used in assessment ofimpairment in the value of goodwill and intangible assets.
• Obtained an understanding of the process followed by themanagement in determining the CGU to which goodwill isallocated and determination of recoverable amounts of CGU.
• Compared projections shared by the management in previousyear with the actuals for the year ended March 31,2025.
• Tested the arithmetical accuracy of the computation ofrecoverable amounts of each CGU.
• Assessed the disclosures provided by the Company in relationto its annual impairment test in note 48 to standalone financialstatements.
We have audited the standalone financial statements of MetroBrands Limited ("the Company"), which comprise the Balance sheetas at March 31, 2025, the Statement of Profit and Loss, includingthe statement of Other Comprehensive Income, the Cash FlowStatement and the Statement of Changes in Equity for the yearthen ended, and notes to the standalone financial statements,including a summary of material accounting policies and otherexplanatory information.
In our opinion and to the best of our information and accordingto the explanations given to us, the aforesaid standalone financialstatements give the information required by the Companies Act,2013, as amended ("the Act") in the manner so required and givea true and fair view in conformity with the accounting principlesgenerally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company asat March 31, 2025, its profit including other comprehensive income,its cash flows and the changes in equity for the year ended onthat date.
We conducted our audit of the standalone financial statementsin accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs), as specifiedunder section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under thoseStandards are further described in the 'Auditor's Responsibilitiesfor the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements' section of our
report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the'Code of Ethics' issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountantsof India together with the ethical requirements that are relevantto our audit of the financial statements under the provisions ofthe Act and the Rules thereunder, and we have fulfilled our otherethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements andthe Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we haveobtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for ouraudit opinion on the standalone financial statements.
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professionaljudgment, were of most significance in our audit of the standalonefinancial statements for the financial year ended March 31, 2025.These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of thestandalone financial statements as a whole, and in forming ouropinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion onthese matters. For each matter below, our description of how ouraudit addressed the matter is provided in that context.
We have determined the matters described below to be the keyaudit matters to be communicated in our report. We have fulfilledthe responsibilities described in the Auditor's responsibilitiesfor the audit of the standalone financial statements section ofour report, including in relation to these matters. Accordingly,our audit included the performance of procedures designed torespond to our assessment of the risks of material misstatementof the standalone financial statements. The results of our auditprocedures, including the procedures performed to address thematters below, provide the basis for our audit opinion on theaccompanying standalone financial statements.
The Company's Board of Directors is responsible for the otherinformation. The other information comprises the informationincluded in the Annual report, but does not include the standalonefinancial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The AnnualReport is expected to be made available to us after the date of thisauditor's report.
Our opinion on the standalone financial statements does notcover the other information and we do not express any form ofassurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the standalone financial statements,our responsibility is to read the other information identified abovewhen it becomes available and, in doing so, consider whethersuch other information is materially inconsistent with the financialstatements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwiseappears to be materially misstated.
The Company's Board of Directors is responsible for the mattersstated in section 134(5) of the Act with respect to the preparationof these standalone financial statements that give a true and fairview of the financial position, financial performance includingother comprehensive income, cash flows and changes in equityof the Company in accordance with the accounting principlesgenerally accepted in India, including the Indian AccountingStandards (Ind AS) specified under section 133 of the Act readwith the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015,as amended. This responsibility also includes maintenance of
adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisionsof the Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Company and forpreventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selectionand application of appropriate accounting policies; makingjudgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; andthe design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internalfinancial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring theaccuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevantto the preparation and presentation of the standalone financialstatements that give a true and fair view and are free from materialmisstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the standalone financial statements, management isresponsible for assessing the Company's ability to continue as agoing concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to goingconcern and using the going concern basis of accounting unlessmanagement either intends to liquidate the Company or to ceaseoperations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
Those Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing theCompany's financial reporting process.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whetherthe standalone financial statements as a whole are free frommaterial misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and toissue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonableassurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee thatan audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect amaterial misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arisefrom fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in
the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence theeconomic decisions of users taken on the basis of these standalonefinancial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professionaljudgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout theaudit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of thestandalone financial statements, whether due to fraud or error,design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks,and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriateto provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting amaterial misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than forone resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery,intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override ofinternal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to theaudit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriatein the circumstances. Under section 143(3)(i) of the Act, weare also responsible for expressing our opinion on whetherthe Company has adequate internal financial controls withreference to financial statements in place and the operatingeffectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies usedand the reasonableness of accounting estimates and relateddisclosures made by management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of thegoing concern basis of accounting and, based on the auditevidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists relatedto events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on theCompany's ability to continue as a going concern. If we concludethat a material uncertainty exists, we are required to drawattention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures inthe financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate,to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on theaudit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report.However, future events or conditions may cause the Companyto cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of thestandalone financial statements, including the disclosures, andwhether the standalone financial statements represent theunderlying transactions and events in a manner that achievesfair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding,among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the auditand significant audit findings, including any significant deficienciesin internal control that we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with a statementthat we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regardingindependence, and to communicate with them all relationshipsand other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on ourindependence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged withgovernance, we determine those matters that were of mostsignificance in the audit of the standalone financial statements forthe financial year ended March 31,2025 and are therefore the keyaudit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor's reportunless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about thematter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine thata matter should not be communicated in our report because theadverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expectedto outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
1. As required by the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020("the Order"), issued by the Central Government of India interms of sub-section (11) of section 143 of the Act, based onour audit we give in the "Annexure 1" a statement on thematters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order.
2. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we report, to theextent applicable, that:
(a) We have sought and obtained all the information andexplanations which to the best of our knowledge andbelief were necessary for the purposes of our audit;
(b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required bylaw have been kept by the Company so far as it appearsfrom our examination of those books except for mattersstated in paragraph (i)(vi) below on reporting underRule 11(g);
(c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Lossincluding the Statement of Other ComprehensiveIncome, the Cash Flow Statement and Statementof Changes in Equity dealt with by this Report are inagreement with the books of account;
(d) In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financialstatements comply with the Accounting Standardsspecified under Section 133 of the Act, read withCompanies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015,as amended;
(e) On the basis of the written representations receivedfrom the directors as on March 31, 2025 taken onrecord by the Board of Directors, none of the directors isdisqualified as on March 31,2025 from being appointedas a director in terms of Section 164 (2) of the Act;
(f) The modification relating to the maintenance ofaccounts and other matters connected therewith areas stated in paragraph (i)(vi) below on reporting underRule 11(g);
(g) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financialcontrols with reference to these standalone financial
statements and the operating effectiveness of suchcontrols, refer to our separate Report in "Annexure 2"to this report;
(h) In our opinion, the managerial remuneration for theyear ended March 31, 2025 has been paid / providedby the Company to its directors in accordance with theprovisions of section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act;
(i) With respect to the other matters to be included inthe Auditor's Report in accordance with Rule 11 of theCompanies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, as amendedin our opinion and to the best of our information andaccording to the explanations given to us:
i. The Company has disclosed the impact of pendinglitigations on its financial position in its standalonefinancial statements - Refer note 25 to thestandalone financial statements;
ii. The Company did not have any long-term contractsincluding derivative contracts for which there wereany material foreseeable losses;
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts,required to be transferred, to the InvestorEducation and Protection Fund by the Company;
iv. a) The management has represented that, to the
best of its knowledge and belief, as disclosedin the note 41(A) to the standalone financialstatements, no funds have been advancedor loaned or invested (either from borrowedfunds or share premium or any other sourcesor kind of funds) by the Company to or inany other person(s) or entity(ies), includingforeign entities ("Intermediaries"), with theunderstanding, whether recorded in writingor otherwise, that the Intermediary shall,whether, directly or indirectly lend or investin other persons or entities identified inany manner whatsoever by or on behalf ofthe Company ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") orprovide any guarantee, security or the likeon behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries;
b) The management has represented that, to thebest of its knowledge and belief, as disclosedin the note 41(B) to the standalone financialstatements, no funds have been received bythe Company from any person(s) or entity(ies),including foreign entities ("Funding Parties"),with the understanding, whether recorded inwriting or otherwise, that the Company shall,whether, directly or indirectly, lend or investin other persons or entities identified in anymanner whatsoever by or on behalf of theFunding Party ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") or
provide any guarantee, security or the likeon behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries; and
c) Based on such audit procedures performedthat have been considered reasonable andappropriate in the circumstances, nothinghas come to our notice that has causedus to believe that the representationsunder sub-clause (a) and (b) contain anymaterial misstatement.
v. The Anal dividend paid by the Company duringthe year in respect of the same declared for theprevious year is in accordance with section 123of the Act to the extent it applies to paymentof dividend.
The interim dividend declared and paid by theCompany during the year and until the date ofthis audit report is in accordance with section 123of the Act.
As stated in note 11(II) to the standalone financialstatements, the Board of Directors of the Companyhave proposed final dividend for the year whichis subject to the approval of the members at theensuing Annual General Meeting. The dividenddeclared is in accordance with section 123 ofthe Act to the extent it applies to declarationof dividend.
vi. Based on our examination which included testchecks, the Company has used accountingsoftware for maintaining its books of accountwhich has a feature of recording audit trail (editlog) facility and the same has operated throughoutthe year for all relevant transactions recorded inthe software except that, audit trail feature is notenabled for direct changes to data when usingcertain access rights, as described in note 50 to thefinancial statements. Further, during the course ofour audit we did not come across any instance ofaudit trail feature being tampered with, in respectof accounting software where the audit trail hasbeen enabled. Additionally, the audit trail of prioryear has been preserved by the Company as perthe statutory requirements for record retention tothe extent it was enabled.
For S R B C & CO LLP
Chartered AccountantsICAI Firm Registration Number: 324982E/E300003
per Firoz Pradhan
Partner
Place of Signature: Mumbai Membership Number: 109360
Date: May 22, 2025 UDIN: 25109360BMKYGZ8238