Monday 20 March 2017

Future Group to expand affordable fashion retail format

Kolkata: Future Group plans to open 80 new stores for its affordable fashion format FBB this fiscal to grow the store count which at present is 300, said group CEO Kishore Biyani.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Biyani said the retailer plans to sell 23 crore units of garments by next year March and expects it to grow to 80 crore units by 2021. "Next fiscal, we are targeting Rs 10,000 crore sales from fashion and we expect much of it will be driven from Kolkata," he said.
Biyani said he expects prices at FBB will plunge by 3-5% every year as the retailer gains scale in operations and backend. He said around 40% of the group's revenue is driven by fashion.
Future Group launched its largest FBB store in Kolkata. The group is on an expansion spree in Kolkata and soon plans to set up a Central store over 1.5 lakh square feet in Rajarhat. Future Supply Chain Solutions has also just set up an integrated apparels and general merchandise distribution centre at Burdwan, near Kolkata. This will serve all the Big Bazaar and FBB stores located in West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and North Eastern States. The facility is spread over 2.6 lakh square feet.
Biyani said the new distribution center at Burdwan will enable the group to reduce complexity, increase productivity and offer better services to customers in the Eastern region. "Our aim has always been to come up with better processes and technology that enables us to operate seamlessly," he said.

Vodafone's India operations to merge with Idea Cellular in two years

source: SnS124.com / March 20, 2017 


Mumbai: Vodafone India will merge with Idea Cellular within two years, making the merged entity the largest telecom operator in India with 400 million customer base and 35 per cent market share. Vodafone will own 45.1 per cent of the merged entity after a consideration of US$ 592.15 million is paid in cash for transferring about 4.9 per cent to promoters of Idea or its affiliates. The companies expect cost and capex synergies to yield US$ 10 billion in present value terms post integration costs and payments towards spectrum.