Why Wal-Mart, Bharti split in India

NDTV Profit Desk

09 Oct 2013, 04:51 PM IST

Retail business requires deep pockets: Bharti Airtel, the flagship of Bharti Enterprises and India's biggest mobile operator, has been struggling under a debt of $12 billion. The company reported a 14th consecutive quarter of declining profits in June. Bharti Enterprises reportedly wants to consolidate its balance sheet and sharpen its focus on Bharti Airtel.
Low margins, high costs: The retail business entails high costs and narrow margins, so most big retailers in India lose money. The Bharti Walmart wholesale joint venture (unlisted) lost Rs 277 crore in 2011. Bharti-Walmart's rival Reliance Retail turned a cash profit for the first time since its debut in 2006 for the year ended 2013. Though Bharti Retail will continue to operate its easyday retail chain, which has 212 stores, it will now expand on its own pace.
Policy uncertainty: In September 2012, the government announced that it would allow foreign supermarket chains to take majority ownership of their local operations. With 1.2 billion people and 90 per cent of its $500 billion in retail trade done at mom-and-pop shops, India is potentially lucrative for global retailers. But no global supermarket chain has applied to enter because of regulatory uncertainty. The biggest stumbling block for companies has been the government's requirement that 30 per cent of their products be sourced locally.
Political uncertainty: The general elections in India are due by May 2014 and there are concerns that a BJP-led government could reverse the controversial retail reform. In an interview to NDTV in September, former finance minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said his party will "not allow Walmarts to come" in the country. Mr. Sinha said that while the BJP will support FDI in general, FDI in multi-brand in retail will not be allowed.
Bribery scandal: Wal-Mart launched a global review of corruption last year after a New York Times report on bribery at the company's Mexico operations. Its lawyers flagged India among the countries with the highest corruption risk. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids American firms from paying bribes. In November, Bharti Walmart suspended employees including the chief financial officer as part of an internal investigation into bribery allegations in India. On June 26, Wal-Mart announced that Raj Jain, who led its India push for the past six years, had left the company. Wal-Mart's internal crackdown on bribe-paying has also slowed expansion plans in India. Wal-Mart, which has run wholesale stores in India since 2009, has not opened a new one since October 2012 despite its stated plans to open eight in 2013. It has 20 such stores in India.

(With inputs from Reuters)