Kolkata, July 29 (IANS) Spencer’s Retail Limited, a CESC subsidiary, has already initiated partnership talks with foreign companies as the committee of secretaries, chaired by the cabinet secretary, has cleared 51 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
‘We are open to the idea of aligning and partnering with global retail majors. We are in dialogues with global players but names cannot be disclosed since there are confidentiality clauses in moving ahead with deals,’ CESC vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka said here Friday.
‘There would be some sort of equity deal with the foreign players who would be roped in,’ he said.
Stating that Spencer’s has increased its trading area from 8.77 lakh square feet to 9.55 lakh square feet in the last one year, he said its average per square foot sales have gone up to Rs.1,018 in the first quarter of the current fiscal from Rs.880 during the same period last fiscal.
He said total sales grew from Rs.240 crore during first quarter of last fiscal to Rs.290 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Store EBIDTA grew from Rs.(-) 3 per sq foot to Rs.22 per sq foot in one year, he said.
Goenka said although Spencer’s was registering store level profits, it was still loss making at the company level.
‘We made Rs.20 crore loss in 2009-2010, but we have brought it down to a single digit loss in 2010-2011,’ he added.
