Pantaloon net up 6%

Pantaloon Retail, the country’s largest retailer, posted a growth of 6 per cent in its net profit for the second quarter of FY09, much lower than analyst expectations, owing to a higher interest payout by the company in the December quarter. The company posted a net profit of Rs 33.54 crore for the quarter compared with Rs 31.65 crore in the year-ago period.

It paid an interest of Rs 74.16 crore in Q2, nearly 78 per cent more than what it had paid in the corresponding quarter last year.The “The Q2 numbers were much below our expectations. We had not factored in the fall in same store growth in December, which had impacted the profit numbers negatively,” said an analyst with an international brokerage, who did not wish to be quoted.