Future Retail's Q3 net loss widens to Rs 1,063.4 cr; revenue up 86.8%

Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Monday reported the widening of its consolidated net loss to Rs 1,063.36 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2021.

The company had posted a net loss of Rs 846.92 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, FRL said in a BSE filing.

Its total income in October-December 2021 jumped 86.85 per cent to Rs 2,815.68 crore, against Rs 1,506.87 crore in the year-ago period.

Total expenses of FRL, which operates retail stores as BigBazaar, fbb, Foodhall, Easyday and Nilgiris, stood at Rs 3,890.02 crore, a 62.66 per cent jump as against Rs 2,391.43 crore.

The Kishore Biyani firm, which had a defaulted payment of Rs 3,494.56 crore to its lenders, is in discussion with the lenders.

"The company, at present, is in discussion with lenders for a continuation of operations after the occurrence of the event of default and trying to find an amicable resolution to present financial status of the company," it said.

FRL had last year entered into a one-time restructuring (OTR) scheme for COVID-19-hit companies with a consortium of banks and lenders as per the RBI circular dated August 6, 2020, and was to discharge "an aggregate amount of Rs 3,494.56 crore" by December 31, 2021.

The company also shared the updates over the legal tussle with e-commerce major Amazon over the 24,713 crore sales of retail and wholesale, the logistics and warehousing business by its promoters and Future group to Reliance Retail, owned by oil-to-chemical conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd.

In August 2020, the board of the company had approved the amalgamation of FRL along with other group companies with Future Enterprises Ltd to facilitate a Rs 24,713-crore deal to sell the retail and wholesale business to Reliance Retail.

Shares of Future Retail Ltd on Monday settled at Rs 45.15 on the BSE, down 4.24 per cent from the previous close.