SVYAZNOY TURNED OUT TO BE IN A PRE-BANKRUPTCY STATE

The Svyaznoy salon chain risks going bankrupt. Several dozen lawsuits for billions of rubles have been filed against the retailer. The company's creditors include banks, counterparties and suppliers. So far, the company is being saved from bankruptcy by the moratorium established by the Russian government at the end of March 2022. But what will happen when this act ends?

According to Vedomosti, more than 14 billion rubles are required from the company in arbitration. A large debt of 5.6 billion rubles from the chain of stores has accumulated in front of the Merlion distributor. Banking structures also demand from Svyaznoy 6 billion (Alfa-Bank) and 2.4 billion (Sovcombank). Moreover, experts call filing a lawsuit in court an extreme measure, which in many cases was preceded by long negotiations.

One of the reasons for the financial problems that have befallen the company, analysts call the lack of revenue needed to patch holes in the company's budget. Some part of Svyaznoy's funds, apparently, hung on the accounts of foreign suppliers. In some cases, the company has not closed the obligations for those deliveries of goods for which a deferral was previously granted.

Experts believe that the company is now interested in replenishing inventories. To do this, the company needs to increase purchases from counterparties from Asian countries (in particular, from China), which is impossible without replenishing working capital. According to approximate calculations, for this, the store chain needs to attract investments in the amount of at least 3 billion.

At the beginning of the year, the company's financial situation looked quite successful. After several years during which the network increased revenue and incurred losses, in 2021 the Svyaznoy Network (the name of the legal entity managing retail electronics stores) received 15.2 million rubles in profit. The company's turnover reached 105 billion rubles.

According to experts, the firm has optimized its credit load by transferring 40% of its debt into long-term liabilities. However, under the conditions of anti-Russian sanctions, the situation has changed.

Now experts are wondering whether its shareholders will "help" the company. If the main business owners in the person of Megafon (has a 25% share plus 1 share) or Solvers allocate funds to rescue Svyaznoy, there will be no autumn bankruptcy, and the company will continue its work in the market.

Recognition of the company as insolvent will mean that not only the owners, but also the creditors may find themselves with nothing. It is worth considering that the retailer has about 2.6 thousand retail outlets in Russia. The company employs about 13 thousand employees.