DHAKA: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.66% is planning to respond to questions from investors over its sourcing practices in Bangladesh during a briefing on Thursday, indicating that its shareholders have some concerns about a series of deadly disasters at overseas garment factories that make clothes for Wal-Mart and other Western retailers.

"We continue to receive questions about our company`s position on sourcing and specifically on the situation in Bangladesh," Wal-Mart Vice President of Global Investor Relations Carol Schumacher said in an email to investors reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. "Our goal is to provide an update on this area of the business and to give you the opportunity to ask questions."

Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart`s vice president of ethical sourcing, and Wesley Wilson, its senior director of ethical sourcing, will respond to investor questions, the email said.

A Wal-Mart spokesman said the briefing is intended to update investors on its plans to improve worker safety in Bangladesh and is part of a continuous dialogue the Bentonville, Ark., store chain has with its shareholders.

Recent disasters in Bangladesh raise risks for apparel companies` brands and could ultimately affect the cost of producing their goods.

Wal-Mart came under pressure after its Faded Glory brand clothing was found at a Bangladesh factory where a fire killed 112 people last November—a factory the company said was no longer supposed to be making its clothes.

After a building collapse in the country earlier this year killed more than 1,100 people, Wal-Mart came under further scrutiny for failing to join with Hennes & Mauritz AB, Tommy Hilfiger parent PVH Corp., and 80 mostly European retailers to sign a legally binding pact aimed at preventing such disasters and increasing worker safety.

Instead, the retailer joined with Gap Inc., VF Corp. and more than a dozen other U.S. retailers to form their own five-year plan to boost worker safety.

Wal-Mart has also adopted a new "zero tolerance policy" for violations of its global sourcing standards, in which it will immediately sever ties with any company that subcontracts work to factories without the retailer`s knowledge. Previously, the company followed a "three strikes" approach to policing suppliers. The giant has also released a list of more than 250 banned factories it no longer does business with in Bangladesh.

Source: Wall Street Journal
BDST: 1417  HRS, AUG 29, 2013
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