Noel Tata will retire as chairman of Trent Ltd, ending a near three-decade journey with the retailer he helped transform from a post-Lakmé retail venture into one of India’s largest fashion chains.
“As you might be aware, this will be my last annual general meeting as chairman,” Tata told shareholders at Trent’s 74th annual general meeting on Monday.
The move comes as Tata turns 70 in November, the retirement age prescribed for non-executive directors under Tata Group governance guidelines adopted by Trent. The company’s annual report states that non-independent non-executive directors retire at 70, while executive directors retire at 65 and independent directors at 75.
In 2024, he was appointed chairman of Tata Trusts, which holds nearly 66% in Tata Sons, the holding company of the $300 billion Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate.
Tata’s association with Trent dates back to the company’s transformation from a cosmetics business into a retail venture. Following the sale of the Lakmé brand to Hindustan Lever Ltd. in 1998, the company pivoted to retail and launched its first Westside store on Bengaluru’s Commercial Street, at a time when modern fashion retail was still nascent in India.
Tata, who has been associated with Trent since 1998, played a central role in that transition. He took over as managing director in 1999 and led the company for more than 11 years, helping expand Westside from a single store into a national retail chain built around private labels and an own-brand retail model. During that period, Trent’s turnover grew from about ₹8 crore in 1999 to ₹1,932 crore by 2013.
After stepping down as managing director in 2010 to take on broader responsibilities within the Tata Group, Tata remained closely involved with Trent as vice-chairman. He succeeded F.H. Kavarana as chairman in April 2014.
Building a retail powerhouse
Under his chairmanship, Trent’s revenue rose nearly nine-fold from ₹2,333 crore in FY14 to ₹20,193 crore in FY26, while the company swung from a loss of ₹19 crore to a profit of ₹1,477 crore. The retailer’s market capitalisation grew from about ₹4,300 crore when Tata took over as chairman to more than ₹2 trillion, making it one of the Tata Group’s biggest value creators.
Analysts believe the growth engine he helped build remains firmly in place. In a 1 June report, Nuvama upgraded Trent to “Buy” from “Hold”, citing a low risk of earnings downgrades after the stock’s recent correction. The brokerage said Trent’s push into newer markets would help offset slowing like-for-like (LFL) growth and noted that margins improved during FY26 despite pressure on same-store sales, aided by cost optimisation.
The brokerage highlighted that Trent’s “increasing push towards newer regions would help provide a solution to slower LFL growth”, with the company deepening its presence in Tier-II and Tier-III markets. Nuvama also noted that “margins improved this year largely through cost optimisation as LFL growth was under pressure for the entire year”, underscoring the strength of the retailer’s operating model.
Trent shares have gained nearly 10% year-to-date, outperforming both the benchmark Nifty 50, which is down about 9% over the same period, and apparel rivals such as Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail and Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands, whose shares have fallen more than 20%. The stock’s resilience underscores investor confidence in Trent’s growth strategy, driven by the rapid expansion of mass-market fashion retailer Zudio and the continued strength of Westside.
Shares of Trent closed 1.2% lower at ₹3,141.70 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday.
Today, Trent operates 1,286 stores across 321 cities under formats including Westside, Zudio and Star, compared with a single Westside outlet when it began its retail journey.
Growth ambitions intact
Reflecting on the company’s evolution, Tata told shareholders that the transformation of both Trent and the broader retail industry had been extraordinary.
“In 1998, we started with a single Westside store on Commercial Street in Bengaluru. Those were times when modern fashion retail in India was almost non-existent,” he said.
Tata also reiterated a growth aspiration he first outlined to shareholders in 2023.
“In our 2023 shareholders meeting, I had shared an aspiration for Trent to become 10 times larger in terms of revenue, with commensurate profitability. Since then, the revenue and profitability rate has already grown by over 2.5 times,” he said. “This progress gives me confidence that the aspiration we have spoken of is achievable in the not too distant future.”
As of March 31, 2026, Trent’s portfolio conistsed of 300 Westside stores, 963 Zudio outlets including six in the UAE and 23 stores across other lifestyle concepts, with a retail footprint of over 17.7 million square feet.
The company has not announced a successor to Tata. His departure comes at a time when Trent is pursuing aggressive expansion across fashion and grocery retail and exploring opportunities to scale its brands beyond India.
Looking beyond his tenure, Tata remained optimistic about Trent’s growth prospects, noting that the retailer still accounts for only a small share of the market. “We are currently only 2% of the market. We have a huge amount of headroom,” he said. He added that he sees potential for “around 700 Westside stores” across the country and believes Trent “should be able to have 5,000 Zudio stores across India” over time. “We will not be able to reach our aspirations with only two brands. We will need many more brands.”