Future Retail net drops over 55%

The company's net sales went down 17% during the quarter ending March 31, 2013 at Rs 911.5 cr

Future Retail’s (formerly Pantaloon Retail) net profit more than halved in the quarter ending March as the company’s sales dwindled during the quarter.

The firm posted a standalone net profit of Rs 2.5 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 5.4 crore in the year-ago period, a drop of 54.51 per cent. Its net sales went down 17 per cent during the quarter at Rs 911.5 crore, against Rs 1,105 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Net profit from core operations fell 83 per cent to Rs 2 crore for the quarter, compared to Rs 12 crore in the year-ago period. Net sales fell 4.22 per cent at Rs 2,834 crore, compared to Rs 2,959 crore in last year.

However, the company saw improvement in same-store sales growth in the value segment. The value segment, which includes Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar and others, saw same-store sales growth of 8.1 per cent in the March quarter, compared to 5.1 per cent in the December quarter.

Same-store sales growth refers to sales growth coming from stores, which are in the business for more than a year or so.

Future’s lifestyle segment, which includes Central and Brand Factory, saw same-store sales growth of 9.6 per cent in the March quarter, compared to 12.7 per cent in the December quarter.

Its home segment saw same-store sales growth of -4.1 per cent in the March quarter, compared to -3.4 per cent in the December quarter.

Shoppers Stop, which recently announced its results, saw its net profit growing at 10.4 per cent and net sales rising by 15.3 per cent in the March quarter, on a yearly basis. Its same store sales growth stood at 10 per cent.

Future Retail’s stock ended the day at Rs 153.65, which is 2.26 per cent down from the previous close.