Future Retail Q1 net rises 4.67% to Rs 159 crore

Mumbai: Future Retail, that operates Big Bazaar supermarket chain posted a 6 per cent increase in net profit during first quarter, lowered due to accounting change. Profit after tax was Rs 170 crore for April-June excluding leasing accounting impact, growing 11 per cent while sales rose 13.5 per cent to Rs 5149 crore.

The company said same-store-sales for its flagship Big Bazaar stood at 8.1 per cent for the quarter while Future Retail’s like-to-like growth for the period was 8.3 per cent. The company opened 82 new small format stores and shut 38 loss making ones during the quarter. In the last one year, 1.4 million sq ft area has been added for 434 stores opened, it said in a statement. The retailer's gross margin improved 20 basis points to 27.6 per cent.

Future Retail operates 1557 stores across Big Bazaar, FBB and easyday among others that together occupy retail space of 6.27 million sq.ft. It has shut about 69 stores of electronics chain Ezone and added nearly 200 Easy Day stores since last year.