Trent launches new firm to open stores in non-FDI states

The only company to have successfully formed a joint venture with UK’s retail major Tesco,

Tata run-Trent Hypermarkets, has launched a separate company to open and operate its hypermarket stores in states that don't allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail, such as Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 16 stores under the Star brand, four were in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu that are opposed to FDI in retail. Trent has divested those stores into a separate subsidiary called Fiora Hypermarkets. Trent also plans to open three to five hypermarkets in Maharashtra and Karnataka, where they already operate stores.

Trent reported a 28 percent jump in its net profit at Rs 24.9 crores for the quarter ended March 2014, compared to the same quarter, last year. The company operating lifestyle chain and Star Bazaar hypermarkets among others posted 41 percent year-on-year jump in its turnover for the fourth quarter at Rs 298 crores, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. For the full year ended March, Trent's consolidated revenues increased 12 percent at Rs 2,272 crores while its net losses came down to Rs 18.7 crores from Rs 37.9 crores in the previous year.