Aditya Birla Retail today said it will invest up to Rs 200 crore this fiscal to expand its 'More' brand as it aims to capitalise on the revival of organised retail market and falling rentals.
The company, which is the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group, said it will open around 100 supermarkets and 8-10 hypermarkets by March 2011 as part of plans to grow by over 25 per cent this year.
"In the last three years, we went through phases of nationwide roll-out of our 'More' brand and then consolidation. We will now embark on the third phase which will entail renewed growth to take advantage of the reviving market and falling rentals," Aditya Birla Retail Ltd (ABRL) Chief Executive Officer Thomas Varghese told PTI.
Elaborating further, he said, "We will invest up to Rs 200 crore this fiscal to expand our chain. While we will open 100 odd new supermarkets of 'More', we have also lined up 8-10 new hypermarkets under our More Megastore brand."
Varghese said the company will fund its expansion from internal accrual and debt.
ABRL currently operates 540 More supermarkets and six large format More Hypermarts in 167 cities and towns across India.
"Besides, we are also aiming to make all our existing stores fully profitable by this fiscal. Currently, 60 per cent of our outlets are showing profit and we want the rest to be in the same league," Varghese said.
ABRL is looking for an over 25 per cent growth in turnover in 2010-11.
"Our target is to clock a turnover of around Rs 1,850 crore this fiscal, up from Rs 1,460 in 2009-10. We believe that the new outlets which are lined up for opening this fiscal will also turn profitable within 15 months of start of their operations," he added.