Sheng Siong Q1 profit up 4.3% on revenue from new stores

SUPERMARKET chain Sheng Siong Group on Friday posted a 4.3 per cent increase in net profit to S$17.1 million from S$16.4 million a year ago, on the back of revenue growth for the first quarter of 2017.

Revenue increased by 4.1 per cent, fuelled mainly by income from four new stores opened in 2016. Gross profit margin improved to 25 per cent compared with 24.5 per cent in Q1 2016, which Sheng Siong attributed to higher rebates for bulk handling and promotions.

Earnings per share increased to 1.14 Singapore cents from 1.09 cents in the corresponding quarter of 2016.

The group said in a media statement that it expects the industry to remain competitive, adding: "Besides competitive pressures, gross margin would be affected if input cost is increased because of food inflation, which could be caused by disruption to the supply chain or changes to prices caused by nations adopting protectionist measures."