Pursuits
Welspun Declines After Wal-Mart Joins Target to Pull Bedsheets
- Sheets are sold under Better Homes & Gardens, Canopy names
- Welspun stock slumped by about half over past three weeks
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Welspun India Ltd. shares slid as much as 5 percent in Mumbai trading after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stopped selling the supplier’s Egyptian-cotton sheets over concerns that the products’ origins may be mislabeled.
The stock traded 4.7 percent lower at 54.15 rupees as of 9:20 a.m. local time. The world’s largest retailer said on Friday that Welspun wasn’t able to assure that the sheets are 100 percent Egyptian cotton. Welspun’s market value has dropped by about half since the controversy erupted Aug. 19, when Target Corp. cut ties with the Indian vendor after discovering sheets and pillowcases that were labeled as premium Egyptian cotton were made with cheaper fiber. Unlike Target, Wal-Mart said it wouldn’t end all business with Welspun.