Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail is poised to perform a rare feat in India's notoriously complex retail market by finally turning a profit. The time and cost involved, however, could put off global and local rivals from even trying to copy it.It took Reliance Retail, part of Ambani's conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, seven years of losses, bruising trial-and-error and over $1 billion in investments to find a formula that works for India, the world's fifth largest retail market and one of its fastest growing.This seemingly inexhaustible combination of financing and patience has given Reliance an edge over smaller local rivals that lack its deep pockets, and global chains like Carrefour SA and Wal-Mart Stores Inc which would have to invest vast amounts of capital, time and energy to set up retail shops in India but reap miniscule initial returns."No global chain will pour money immediately to build up a business here even if they can," said Saloni Nangia, president of retail consultancy Technopak India. "They will be cautious about their investments, keeping in mind the political landscape in India and shareholder sentiment back home."
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart), operates retail stores in various formats globally. Shares of WMT fell by 0.52% or $-0.39/share to $74.38. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $71.51 and as high as $81.37. On average, 6612400 shares of WMT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5749714.
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