Alok Industries textile major focus to sell all its non-core assets

Alok Industries, textile major is in view of raising Rs 2,000 crore by selling its UK retail chain, Store 21, and well as land in Mumbai, Vapi and Silvassa over the next two years for which investment bankers have been appointed.

At the moment, the company’s focus is selling all their non-core assets as they are in a consolidation phase and will not expand for at least the next three to four years, said Chief Financial Officer Sunil Khandelwal.

They also have plans to sell its land in Mumbai in the next six months and hope to raise at least Rs 300 crore from this sale.
The company started shutting its India retail venture, H&A, two years ago.

It is focusing on reducing its debt, which stands at Rs 20,000 crore on a consolidated level; standalone debt stands at Rs 16,000 crore.

Recently, Alok Industries availed of a long-term export advance on an export performance bank guarantee limit of Rs 9,800 crore. This is expected to help the company reduce its interest cost.

In FY14, it paid Rs 2,496 crore as interest, while its operating profit stood at Rs 4,693 crore. For the quarter ended September this year, it paid Rs 559 crore as interest costs, up 24 percent year-on-year.

Alok has also entered into joint venture with New York based Next Creations to market its products in the US, as well as in other countries.