Kathmandu. The business of Bhatbhateni Supermarket and Departmental Store has suffered a major setback due to the vandalism and arson during the Genji agitation on September 23 and 24. The company said that due to the agitation, the business of the company has suffered a big decline.

According to the company, the company’s turnover declined to Rs 27.47 billion from Rs 34.15 billion in the previous fiscal year 2025. The company’s turnover declined by more than Rs 6.68 billion in a year.

Earlier, the company had a turnover of Rs 30.62 billion in 2024, Rs 29.79 billion in 2023 and Rs 26.88 billion in 2022. The GenG movement has put the brakes on the ever-increasing turnover in recent years.

During the agitation, 11 out of 27 stores and one warehouse in Bhatbhateni were completely damaged. A total of 12 stores were damaged and four are currently under reconstruction, the company said. The company said that the business was directly affected due to the temporary closure of some branches due to the damage.

During the agitation, the company’s assets worth about Rs 9 billion were damaged. Out of this, about Rs 6 billion in stocks and Rs 3 billion worth of property were damaged.

After the loss, the company has made an insurance claim but is yet to receive the full payment. The company has received only about 38 percent of the claims related to stock damages and about 6 percent of the claims related to property damages as advance payments. The company said that due to non-receipt of the remaining amount of insurance claims, there is pressure to rebuild and restart the business.

Bhatbhateni had been spending a lot of capital for the expansion of the branch in the last few years. After the loan repayment started in 2025, the company’s debt servicing capacity was under pressure. However, in the last fiscal year, the company restructured the long-term debt and postponed the principal payment for two years.

Despite taking additional loans for reconstruction, the company’s gearing ratio is limited to 1.5 times. In 2024, this ratio was 1.8 times. This shows that the company’s debt dependence has decreased somewhat. The company has invested Rs 1.33 billion in subsidiaries and affiliates. This investment is about 13 percent of the total net worth of the company.

Including lease liabilities, the company’s adjusted gearing ratio is 2.1 times and total external liabilities to tangible net worth ratio is 2.8 times.

Bhatbhateni has a total rating of Rs 17.24 billion for long-term and short-term loans. Of this, Rs 9.14 billion is long-term and Rs 8.10 billion is short-term loans.

Rating agency ICRA Nepal has removed the company from ‘Watch with Negative Implications’. The company’s long-term debt has been given a double B plus rating and short-term debt has been rated as A-four plus.

Min Bahadur Gurung owns about 60 percent and his wife Sabitri Ghale Gurung owns about 40 percent of Bhatbhateni. The rest of the share is jointly owned by other members of the family.