OSAKA -- Mycal Corp.'s interest-bearing debts at the end of this month will come to around 1.05 trillion yen on a consolidated basis, the company said Thursday.

Mycal had previously aimed to reduce its debts to 910 billion yen under a three-year restructuring plan.

Osamu Shikata, president of the ailing supermarket chain, told reporters that while stock sales of its subsidiaries, including Mycal Hokkaido Corp., have generated the expected amounts, negotiations to sell the company's outlets have not yet been settled.

Shikata said he had thought negotiations for the deal, expected to raise around 120 billion yen, would be concluded this month. While negotiations continue, he said, Mycal plans to further promote the selling-off of its shares in subsidiaries, including the unlisted ones.

In a bid to boost profits, Shikata said the company will close down or sublease 37 of the group's loss-making stores from September, while cutting back on sales-floor space by 10 percent to 15 percent to increase efficiency and cut labor costs.

Shikata said he expects Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, one of Mycal's major creditor banks, to continue providing support.

Under a three-year plan announced earlier this year, Mycal had aimed to reduce its debts to 910 billion yen by the end of this month, falling to 750 billion yen by the end of February 2004, through measures such as securitizing its outlets, unloading its shares in subsidiaries and closing around 50 of its loss-making stores.

With the sluggish performance of the stock market, however, Mycal was unable to securitize its stores by the end of this month.