Sasa net profit halved in H1

Following sales decreases in Hong Kong and Macau, cosmetic retailer Sasa International Ltd.’s net profit plummeted 55 per cent year-on-year for the first half of fiscal year ended September 30, according to its filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday.
During the six months, the Hong Kong-listed retailer generated a total of HK$153 million (US$19 million), a sharp decrease of HK$186.8 million compared to the HK$339.8 million it earned for the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the company’s total turnover posted a decline of 10.6 per cent year-on-year for the period, down to HK$3.78 billion from HK$4.23 billion one year ago. In fact, the company saw its sales drop in all of its major markets of Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China.
The retailer’s turnover in the two Special Administrative Regions amounted to HK$3.01 billion for the six months, down 11.1 per cent from HK$3.39 billion for the same period of last year. The amount is also contrary to a year-on-year growth of 10.2 per cent that the company posted for last year.
‘This performance was driven by the decrease in average ticket size of Mainland tourists and also the drop in their total number of transactions, which was in line with the overall decrease of 3.4 per cent of Mainland tourist arrivals during the same period,’ the company claimed.
According to the company’s filing, its same store sales growth fell 8.5 per cent year-on-year in the two cities, while that in Mainland China dropped 9.8 per cent year-on-year in local currency.
The company’s turnover from the Chinese market declined 8.7 per cent year-on-year to HK$148.9 million in the six months. The segment posted a loss of HK$24.5 million, the retailer indicated.
As at the end of September, Sasa had a total of 287 stores in Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.