India's top 10 food retailers accumulate $2.2 billion losses FY14

Competition from local stores constitute 90% of India's $500 billion retail market

Update: 2014-05-29 07:24 GMT
This picture is used for representation purpose only. Photo: Visualphotos.com

Mumbai: India's top 10 food retailers are estimated to have accumulated losses worth $2.20 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2014, as they scaled up operations and refined their business models, according to a report by ratings agency Crisil.

The companies, which the report estimated generated $3.98 billion in revenue during the same period, include Wal-Mart's Indian operations which run the Best Price Modern Wholesale stores, Metro Cash & Carry India, Aditya Birla Retail, Bharti Retail Ltd, Reliance Fresh Ltd which is a part of Reliance Industries, and Trent Hypermarket Ltd which is a part of Tata Group-controlled Trent.

Competition from local mom-and-pop stores, which constitute 90 per cent of India's $500 billion retail market, price-sensitive customers, and low margins remain the core challenges to the growth of organised food retailing in the country, the report said.

Food and grocery account for two-thirds of the retailing market and organised food retail contributes 2 per cent to this. Crisil, however, does not expect any consolidation in the sector as most companies are at an advanced stage of investment and backed by deep pocket promoters.

Similar News