Parkson plans further growth with new stores

[ 2008-08-23 ]


PARKSON Retail Group Ltd, the Beijing-based department store chain controlled by Malaysia's Lion Group, said first-half profit rose 36 percent after acquisitions and the Chinese mainland's rising incomes boosted sales.

Net income rose to 411.8 million yuan (US$60.25 million), or 0.147 yuan a share, from 303.5 million yuan, or 0.11 yuan, a year earlier, the Hong Kong-listed retailer said yesterday. Sales increased 19 percent to 1.56 billion yuan.

Retail sales rose 23 percent in June after climbing 21.6 percent in May. The supermarket operator bought out partners in units last year including in Xi'an and Anshan, and said in May it would buy stakes in two stores from parent Parkson Holdings Bhd for 240 million yuan. The company said it planned to open "additional" new stores this year.

"We are beginning to see sales contribution from last year's acquisitions," Keith Li, retail analyst at CIMB-GK Securities (HK) Ltd who has a "neutral" rating on the stock, told Bloomberg News before the earnings were announced.

Sales at stores open more than a year grew 14.4 percent.

While the company faced slowing demand from export markets and accelerating inflation in the Chinese mainland, it forecast 2008 would be a "record-breaking" year for the group.