NSE to suspend trading in Koutons scrips

Shares of Koutons Retail plunged 15 per cent to an all-time low

on after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) said it would suspend trading in the apparel retailer’s stock due to non-compliance with the listing agreement.

Koutons lost 15.6 per cent, or Rs 1.9, to close at Rs 10.3 on the NSE. The Delhi-based company’s stock was the top loser on NSE, as well as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). NSE would suspend trading in shares of Koutons from the closing hours of trading on April 25. The exchange said the latter had not filed its results for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, a violation of the listing agreement.

Koutons Retail had posted a net loss of Rs 38 crores on revenues of Rs 53 crores for quarter-ended September 2011. It has been in trouble for the last three years. Though the company went public in 2007 and took long-term debt to expand its store network to cash on the retail boom, the economic slowdown of 2008-09 hit sales and inventory piled up. The company faced difficulty in paying lenders and opted for corporate debt restructuring (CDR) in November 2011.

Saddled with Rs 600 crores debt at an average interest of 14 per cent, Koutons downsized operations from the peak of 1,400 stores to 900 stores in May 2011. It also closed 150 stores of its casual menswear brand, Charlie Outlaw, last year to cut costs and losses.