 "Despite losses, pantaloons' margins, sales rise")
Like-to-like growth refers to the growth coming from stores that are in existence for a year or more.
Pantaloons posted a loss of Rs 43.49 crore in the quarter under review compared to Rs 43.5 crore in the same period last year. However, Pantaloons’ revenues grew 14 per cent year-on-year to Rs 554 crore, driven by 8.9 per cent like-to-like sales growth in the Pantaloons stores.
“We have refurbished the stores and got our own products there. These initiatives helped us bring customers to our stores. Besides, we hired 200 new staff in the stores,” said Sushil Agarwal, chief financial officer and whole-time director at Aditya Birla Nuvo.
Pantaloons sells apparel and fashion accessories and compete with chains such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and others.
Pantaloons also added 25-odd stores in the past year, which had an average size of 20,000 sq ft.
“We had a re-look at the brands, which did not have good margins and customer attention and launched new brands,” said Agarwal. Pantaloons would open 20 more stores in the next few quarters, he added.
On the question of de-merger of Pantaloons, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle and more into a separate company and selling the stake in the company, he said the firm is still exploring the option. According to reports, private equity companies such as International Finance Corporation, Temasek Holdings and L Capital are in the race to buy stake in the new company.
Pantaloons’ stock ended at Rs 121 a share on the BSE on Wednesday, 0.94 per cent down from the previous close.