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Debt-ridden Vishal Retail has denied fudging its accounts, blaming it on printing errors by auditors
Debt-ridden Vishal Retail Ltd on Thursday denied fudging its accounts, blaming it on printing errors by auditors, and said that the firm will soon complete its corporate debt restructuring (CDR) exercise.
Reacting to a media report that the company inflated profits and under-reported losses during the nine months ended December 2008, Vishal Retail's chairman Ram Chandra Agarwal told PTI that it was all a “misinterpretation.”
"It is a printing mistake by the auditors. They are making the changes. The report by the auditors has been misinterpreted," Mr Agarwal said.
A media account, quoting a limited review report by the firm's auditor Haribhakti and Co has said that the retailer stated a net profit of Rs48.93 crore instead of Rs20.24 crore for the nine months ended December 2008.
The report also said that the retailer under-reported losses for the year ended 31 March 2009 at Rs88.94 crore instead of Rs94.49 crore.
Denying the allegations in the report, Mr Agarwal said, "Such misinformation has been spread by people who have vested interests and do not want the company to come out of crisis."
Officials of Haribhakti and Co could not be reached for comments.
Vishal Retail has recently inducted a strategic investor into the company to help it emerge from a Rs735-crore debt pit. It has announced that the exercise would be completed by 26th March.
"Our CDR process is on track. It will be over by the stipulated time," said Mr Agarwal, who had earlier this month said a formal announcement on the completion of its CDR will be made on 26th March.
He also denied allegations in the report that the firm's bankers have demanded a forensic audit of the company and have threatened to take the matter to the Company Law Board (CLB).
"The bankers are very much in confidence with us. The CDR is almost through. Only certain formalities are left," Mr Agarwal said.
The banks which are part of the CDR cell include the State Bank of India, Bank of India, ING Vysya, UCO Bank, HDFC Bank and HSBC.
Kingshuk Mukherjee
1 decade agoFirst it was Subhiksha and now Vishal Retail. It seems some these Indian Retailers have acquired a "Domain Expertise" in "Financial Engineering" , "Cooking the Books", " Accounting Jugglery" etc. whatever you call it. Any Private Equity investor or anyone who wants to become a part of the Indian Retail story must do his/ her " Enhanced Due Diligence" otherwise that investor would have to face the same fatee as the " very wise Billionaire - Mr. Azim Premji " of Premjiinvest and WIPRO had to face. Mr. Premji despite having an entire team dedicated to making PE investments made this huge Blunder of NOT CONDUCTING a Drill Down Due Diligence before making the investing. Only god knows whether Mr. Premji will ever get his money back. This clearly shows how "Gullible" is the Indian public at large. Those who know how to "Cook the Books" can get away with it. Mr. Ramalinga Raju should actually be made a 'Proffesor' of 'Financial Engineering' at Indian School of Business at Hyderabad for his expertise in the field. There are many others who can assist him how about Mr. Ramaswami Subramanian of Subiksha. As Warren Buffet put it very aptly - " It's only after when the tide has gone you know who has been swimming naked".