India’s top retailers accumulated Rs 13,000 crones (US$2.2bn) in losses during the financial year ending March 2014, according to global ratings company Crisil.
The top ten retailers including Metro Cash & Carry, Bharti, Walmart and Aditya Birla Retail, account for 40 per cent of India’s food and grocery sector revenue, with competition from local kirana stores remaining one of the biggest challenges for the retailers.
Crisil found the losses were due to large-scale expansions and changes to streamline business models that will take time to yield solid results. Crisil expects as companies continue to expand in coming years, losses are likely to peak in 2017, when half of the top-ten will break even.
During the same fiscal year, India’s top retailers generated an accumulated US$3.98bn in revenue.
