Aditya Birla Retail’s to be profitable by next year

Aditya Birla Retail expects to become profitable at the company level by next year. It has a strong double-digit, like-to-like growth based on various initiatives focused on the consumer experience, both in terms of assortment and service. The company reduced its operating loss by 7.4 per cent in the year ended March 2016. The group entered retailing in 2007 with the acquisition of Trinethra Retail.

Aditya Birla Retail’s supermarket chain More saw a 21 per cent increase in sales in the previous financial year, although losses continued to pile up due to high finance and borrowing costs. More is the fourth largest supermarket chain in the country with 487 More branded supermarkets and 19 hypermarkets.

Unlike food and grocery, which operates on wafer-thin margins, apparel retailing is a lucrative business with margins as high as 30 per cent. Aditya Birla is by far the market leader with brands such as Allen Solly and Van Heusen. It is the country’s largest branded apparel company by sales and number of stores. The group’s strategy of focusing on profitable markets helped it cut operating losses. It is planning to invest Rs 500 crores in the food and grocery business and increase its authorised capital to Rs 750 crores.