Walmart India witnesses marginal rise in revenue, losses mount in FY19

Walmart India has posted a marginal increase in turnover and a significant rise in losses in the financial year 2019.

According to the latest RoC filings, the wholesale unit of the company posted revenue at Rs 4,065 crore while its losses mount around 89% to Rs 171.68 crore compared to last year.

The company attributed increased losses in the period due to investment in future growth.

Walmart India investment in enhancing omnichannel capabilities also saw a rise in expenses to Rs 4,266 crore from Rs 3,778.47 crore in FY18, as per data research platform Tofler.

Walmart, which has been in India since 2009, sell merchandise to local Kirana stores, hotels and catering firms. It operates around 27 wholesale cash-carry stores, which are branded as Best Price Modern Wholesale. It claims to have over 10 lakh consumers enrolled for its membership program.

Recently, it announced the opening of fulfilment centres in Lucknow and Hyderabad.

The retailer plans opening around 47 stores in the next three years with an investment of $500 million. Walmart India claims to source its items from smallholder farmers and regional suppliers.

In India, wholesale trade has witnessed rapid growth in the last couple of years. It is estimated to be over $1 trillion markets. There are around 12 million Kirana stores and around 2 lakh hotels and restaurants for new and existing players in India.

Meanwhile, Walmart, which acquired Flipkart last May for over $16 billion, had indicated that fall in its gross profit rate for international business by 116 basis points in FY19 was due to Flipkart acquisition and its deep discounting strategy. It also impacted its net interest expense of the company.

In the e-commerce space, the Arkansas-based firm is locked in rivalry with US-based Amazon. Flipkart and Amazon command about 80% of total online retail sales in India, as per a Morgan Stanley estimate.