Glorious Sun gains fail to shine
The mainland's depressed retail market has taken its toll on fashion-chain operator Glorious Sun Enterprises, which saw net profit edge up only 0.15 per cent to $218.5 million in the year to March 31, against a 12 per cent growth rate the previous year.
'Sluggish market conditions affected our retail operations in the mainland,' Glorious Sun chairman Charles Yeung Chun-kam said.
'Besides the large scale lay-offs from state-owned enterprises, the adverse effects of flooding also dampened retail operations in the mainland,' he said.
Turnover in the mainland decreased 1.85 per cent to $780 million for the year, against the 38 per cent increase the year before.
The firm's total turnover was 10.5 per cent higher at $2.93 billion.
Mr Yeung said the company had taken steps including re-negotiating rental reductions, stringent control of operating costs and a reduction of inventory to minimise the adverse impact from the mainland market.
Mr Yeung also said the company had reduced the number of new shops opened on the mainland.
In the mainland, the company added 77 new outlets last year, compared with 125 the previous year, bringing its mainland network to 473 covering 23 provinces.
Mr Yeung said operations in Australia and New Zealand were also hit by the weakened local currencies.
