Future Retail posts net profit of Rs 70 crores, expands retail floor space

Future Retail has managed a good profit in the quarter ended June. It posted a net profit of Rs 70 crores as compared to a loss of Rs 87 crores during the same period last year. This quarter it had sales worth Rs 3891.51 crores while last year it had Rs 409.41 crores.

The company reported a same-store sales growth of 9.4 per cent for its value business and 4.9 per cent for the home business. Keeping with this growth, Future Retail increased its retail floor space by 3 lakh square feet to 1.3 crore square feet during the April-June quarter this year. It increased its floor spaces in nine cities including Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Indore, Nellore, Gaya and Keonjhar. In Hyderabad the company expanded 62,517 square feet while in Pune it was 34,191 square feet, making it the largest expansions in these two cities.

The Kishore Biyani-led Future Group announced the shutdown of its e-commerce venture Big Bazaar Direct after almost three years since its launch in September 2013. The Group has decided to continue with its brick and mortar retailing model. They will now concentrate on its core model of business especially when Amazon India is moving ahead aggressively and Alibaba is all set to enter the e-commerce business in India.

Future Retail was listed at Rs 153 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) following its merger with Bharti’s retail business.