ABFL revenues perks up 8 per cent, losses narrow down

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFL) losses went down to Rs 21 crores in the first quarter of fiscal year ’17 as compared to a loss of Rs 68 crores in the first quarter of fiscal year ’16. And revenues went up eight per cent. ABFL was earlier known as Pantaloons Fashion and Retail. ABFL was created after Madura was merged into Pantaloons Fashions last year.

Meanwhile, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle net sales declined three per cent in Q1 of FY17. EBITDA fell 26 per cent. Pantaloons' EBITDA rose 6.5 times in the first quarter of fiscal year ’17. Its net sales rose 31 per cent. Pantaloons too posted a record like to like growth of 16 per cent in the first quarter of financial year ’17. Like to like growth refers to growth coming from stores which have been in business for a year or more. It saw strong volume growth across categories at 65 per cent and increase in own brands mix at 63 per cent.

ABFL has rationalized the retail network by shutting down 76 stores under the Madura stable. It rolled out Omni channel features across 100 stores in June and will roll out the features across 400 stores by the second quarter of financial year ’17.