Parkson Retail Asia's Q4 losses narrow to S$12m

PARKSON Retail Asia Limited inked net losses of S$11.98 million for the fourth quarter ended June 30, after chalking up S$59.77 million of losses a year ago.

The department store operator managed to narrow its losses in the fourth quarter on the back of a 10.9 per cent rise in revenue to S$93.86 million.

Its Malaysian operations recorded a 21.5 per cent year-on-year growth in same store sales in the fourth quarter due to early festive buying arising from the shift in the Hari Raya calendar and the low base effect in sales for the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The group also saw a 7.3 per cent growth in same store sales in its Indonesian operations in the fourth quarter due to the shift in the Lebaran calendar, but same store sales in Vietnam and Myanmar slipped 4.1 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Parkson Retail Asia explained that the discretionary retail environment in Vietnam remains difficult for the reported quarter given an increasingly crowded retail scene. In Myanmar, there are plans to close FMI Centre, where the store is located, for redevelopment. This impending closure has affected sales and the landlord has not confirmed the timing for the redevelopment.

The group said that it expects the operating environment to remain challenging for the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

"There will be less festive buying days in Q1 FY2017 due to the shift in the Hari Raya/Lebaran calendar which will impact the Malaysia and Indonesia operations," it added.

"Consumer sentiment in the group's biggest market, Malaysia, is likely to remain subdued amidst uncertain economic conditions. The Vietnam operations will continue to face keen competition among retailers."