Troubled Vishal Retail to move HC

Vishal Retail is planning to approach the Delhi HC to seek relief from an order restricting it from selling any of its assets over the next six months.

Buoyed by robust sales in the last two months,Vishal Retail on Wednesday said that it is planning to approach the Delhi High Court to seek relief from an order restricting it from selling any of its assets over the next six months.

Vishal Retail is eyeing sales to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore this fiscal.

On a petition filed by Vishal8217;s Singapore-based creditor DBS Bank,the High Court had,on May 11,passed an interim order barring the cash-strapped company from selling any of its assets before November 25.

Vishal,which had already received approval from the lenders for a possible takeover by PE firm TPG Capital,is is yet to clear dues of DBS Bank,amounting to Rs 40 crore.

8220;We will move the HC this month with our plea. We are quite hopeful that the judgement will be in our favour. We will soon get some respite,8221; Vishal Retail8217;s chairman and managing director Ramchandra Agarwal told PTI here.

The order,passed by the court last week,had also directed the debt-ridden retail firm to submit details of its debtors and creditors with their complete addresses.

The New Delhi-based retailer,which had approached the CDR cell late last year following accumulation of around Rs 730-crore debt,has witnessed a 40 per cent increase in sales.

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8220;We will soon overcome the losses. The company is recouping,and we have already seen a 40 per cent rise in our sales in the first two months of Q1 of FY8217;11. We expect sales of around Rs 1,800 crore this fiscal as against Rs 1,105 crore in FY8217;10. We are regaining the confidence of our shareholders and investors,and have also started hiring people,8221; Agarwal said.

However,the company8217;s losses widened by 12.38 per cent at Rs 128.93 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 as against Rs 114 crore in the year-ago period.

The company8217;s consolidated total sales during the last fiscal fell by 16.46 per cent to Rs 1,105.46 crore,from Rs 1,323.23 crore during the same quarter of 2008-09.