Parkson Retail posts 5.5% rise in Q3 net profit

DEPARTMENT store operator Parkson Retail Asia reported a 5.5 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to S$7.98 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2015, boosted by a stronger performance from its operations in Malaysia.

Revenue was 9.2 per cent higher at S$116.58 million, while earnings per share came to 1.18 Singapore cents, up from 1.12 cents previously.

Chief executive officer Toh Peng Koon said: "Pre-GST consumer buying in Malaysia provided our operations there some respite and helped drive same store sales growth even though consumer sentiment remained weak during the period. We are pleased to see continued same store sales growth for our Indonesia operations and continued strong ramp-up in sales for our Myanmar operations."

Its Vietnam operations, however, recorded negative same store sales growth.

Commenting on the outlook, Mr Toh added: "While our Malaysia operations will encounter some decline in consumer buying following the implementation of the GST on 1 April, this decline will be buffered by the start of the pre-Hari Raya festive buying towards the end of June."

He expects its Indonesia and Myanmar operations to deliver "encouraging results" in the next quarter, while the group will continue to face a challenging environment in Vietnam.