Future Enterprises defaults on principal amount of Rs 126.13 cr in Sep

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Debt-ridden Future Enterprises has defaulted on a principal amount of Rs 126.13 crore in September, which includes payment obligation of Rs 98.35 crore for NCDs and Rs 27.78 crore to banks, under a one-time restructuring (OTR) scheme.

Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL) had entered into the OTR scheme for COVID-hit companies with its consortium of banks and lenders on October 27, 2020, as per the RBI guidelines.

The due date for payment of the principal amount of Rs 126.13 crore to various banks and lenders, who were part of OTR scheme, was on September 30, 2022.

"The company was not able to discharge the aforesaid obligations to banks and lenders, on the Due Date," FEL said in a regulatory filing on Saturday.

FEL has missed a deadline for payment of the principal amount of 12 non-convertible debentures (NCDs) totalling Rs 98.35 crore. These NCDs had Coupon Rates ranging between 9.25 per cent to 10.50 per cent.

It has defaulted on principal repayment of a term loan of Rs 15.76 crore from IDBI Bank, Rs 9.35 crore from Indian Bank and Rs 2.65 crore from the Central Bank of India.

FEL also said it "regrets for delayed disclosure" from its end "due to certain interpretation issues" with respect to the present disclosure.

Like other Future group firms, FEL is also trying to pare the debt through monetisation of assets.

According to the company, in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, it had disposed of part of its investment in its General Insurance Joint Venture for a total consideration of Rs 1,266.07 crore.

"The said realisation proceeds had been directly deposited in the Trust and Retention Account of the Company, maintained with the Central Bank of India on May 5, 2022," it said.

The said realization proceeds have been appropriated by the lender banks in a specified ratio as agreed between all of them.

"However, since the said distribution ratio has not communicated to the Company till date, it is not possible for the Company to give factual information of recovery of principal and interest amount appropriated and present outstanding balances as well as interest payable for the period under review," said FEL.

Central Bank of India, which is FEL's lead bank under OTR, has already initiated the process of conducting a forensic audit of the accounts of the company for the period April 2017 to July 2022.

Besides, FEL is also facing three petitions filed by its operational creditors before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company.

It is engaged in the business of manufacturing, trading, leasing of assets and logistics services. It used to develop, own and lease the retail infrastructure for the Future Group.

FEL also holds the group's investments in subsidiaries and joint ventures including in sectors like insurance, textile manufacturing, supply-chain and logistics.

It was part of the 19 group companies operating in the retail, wholesale, logistic and warehousing segments, which were supposed to be transferred to Reliance Retail as part of a Rs 24,713-crore deal announced in August 2020.

The deal was called off by Reliance Industries in April, after it failed to get lenders' support.