Shoppers Stop narrowed net loss to Rs 13.6 crore in its first quarter despite a nine per cent rise in retail sales at Rs 821 crore. It had posted loss of Rs 21.6 crore a year ago.

The country’s largest lifestyle retail chain’s same-store sales, or sales excluding newly opened stores, increased 5.5 per cent year-on-year.

“Customer sentiment has been soft during this quarter and we believe that starting Q2FY17 consumption should improve. Depreciation for the quarter has seen an increase of 87 per cent on account of new stores and acceleration of depreciation in respect of certain stores,” Govind Shrikhande, managing director, Shoppers Stop said.