Aditya Birla Retail incurs losses worth Rs 5,320 crores

After eight years of operations Aditya Birla Retail accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 5,320 crores. The retail arm of the Aditya Birla Group posted Rs 2,893 crores sales for the year ended March 2015. As per the company’s filings with Registrar of Companies, the group’s losses reduced 5 per cent year-on-year at Rs 571 crores.

The gestation period in the competitive food and grocery segment takes time. A lot depends on expansion. Even though losses have come down as a percentage of sales, a balance has to be found in terms of store location and margin mix. Aditya Birla Retail closed FY15 with 482 More branded supermarkets and 16 hypermarkets, covering about 2 million square feet of retail space.

The group entered retail in 2007 after acquiring Trinethra Retail, which it merged with ABRL two years ago. A year the group restructured its retail business by creating Madura Fashion and Lifestyle Division from Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABNL) and merging it with Pantaloon Fashion and Retail.