"Going Through Acute Financial Crisis", Says Future Retail
Future Retail Limited (FRL) has said that it is finding it difficult to fund the working capital requirements as it is going through an acute financial crisis.
The troubled retail major said in a statement that "the shareholders are aware that FRL is going through an acute financial crisis. The company has defaulted on its loan servicing and as already informed, the account of the company has been classified as non performing asset by the banks. The ongoing litigation initiated by Amazon in October 2020, and which is continuing for the last one and a half years, has created serious impediments in the implementation of the scheme, resulting in severe adverse impact on the working of the company".
Future Retail further informed that it is finding it difficult to finance the working capital needs as "increasing losses at store level is a grave concern and is a vicious cycle where larger operations are leading to higher losses".
"The company has made a loss of Rs 4,445 crore in the last four quarters. Termination notices have been received for significant number of stores due to huge outstanding, and we would no longer have access to such store premises. The company is scaling down its operations which will help us in reducing losses in the coming months... and is hopeful that the scheme of arrangement proposed with Reliance will be implemented which will be beneficial for all the stakeholders," the statement added.
Earlier, Future, which is the country's second-largest retailer, suspended most of its online and offline operations as stores remained shut on Sunday, after Reliance's bid to take over its flagship supermarkets for missed lease payments, Reuters reported.
Reliance Industries will rebrand the Future stores after the company failed to make payments for them to Reliance, sources told Reuters on Saturday, closing most outlets of the popular Big Bazaar chain.
On February 26, Reliance Industries had taken over the operations of Future Retail stores and offered jobs to its employees.
This development came even as the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group is locked in a bitter battle with e-commerce major Amazon at several judicial forums over the sale of its business to the retail arm of Reliance Industries.
Meanwhile Reliance Retail has started taking possession of the premises in which Future Retail is operating its stores such as Big Bazaar and replaced them with its brand stores, said sources close to the development.