COVID-19: ABFRL to close retail stores till March 31, suspends factory operations

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) on Monday said it will shut all its retail stores across India till March 31, in order to ensure safety of its employees across all its establishments from the coronavirus pandemic. The company has also stopped its factory operations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha till March 31, 2020, in line with the local guidelines, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail said in a regulatory filing.

"In order to safeguard the risks to the health of our store employees & customers, as well as in line with the advisories from local, state and central government, the company has decided to shut all its retail stores until March 31, 2020," it said. The company had already moved to "work from home" policy for all its office employees.

"The business of the company has been significantly affected over the last few weeks and will continue to be materially impacted due to the current crisis. The uncertainty around the situation makes it difficult to ascertain the exact impact at this point of time," the company said. The company further noted that "it will continue to assess the situation and will consider resumption of its business operations at an appropriate time".

ABFRL, with revenue of Rs 8,118 crore and with a retail space of 7.5 million sq ft (as on March 31, 2019), is India's first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse. It has a network of 2,714 brand stores across 750 cities in the country. Shares of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd were trading at Rs 176.35, on BSE in the afternoon trade, down 5.62 per cent over its previous close.