Parkson Retail Asia sinks into the red in Q3

PARKSON Retail Asia reported a net loss of S$7.31 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2016, sinking into the red from a net profit of S$7.98 million a year ago.

Weaker profits were due to provisions made on loans to managed stores of S$4.9 million, the de-leveraging impact from the negative same store sales growth (SSSG) of the Malaysia and Vietnam operations, and the initial loss-making periods associated with certain new stores and new businesses.

Revenue was nearly 16 per cent lower year on year at S$98.42 million.

Loss per share was 1.08 Singapore cents, versus earnings per share of 1.18 cents a year ago.

No dividend was announced, versus a special interim dividend of four cents per share a year ago.

"The group's performance for Q4FY16 will continue to face challenges, especially for the Malaysia operations," it warned, adding that this was due to drag from performance of new stores and new businesses during their gestation period. However it added that the shift in the Hari Raya/Lebaran calendar may provide a lift to its Malaysia and Indonesia operations at the end of the fourth quarter.