Courts Asia

Courts Asia: Good set of results, although head-line news would be grp’s long-awaited news that it has finally decided to open its first store in Indonesia. 3Q13 rev at $195.5m, +9.4% yoy and net profit at $6.2m, +21.6% yoy. Result brings 9M13 rev to $605.3m, +11.9% yoy and net profit to $28.8m, +21.1% yoy. Gross profit margin remained at a healthy level of 29.6%, despite a marginal dip against the last qtr. Strong results was led by new outlets in Bukit Timah, Clementi and Star Vista, which boosted grp's topline, this was partially dampened by sales in its flagship Megastore during the renovation between Oct to Nov, which saw a positive momentum after the Dec re-launch. In Msia, sales was driven by tablets and smartphones, notably Samsung and Apple brands. Going forward, grp will establish a strong presence in the western region of SG and have just signed a letter of offer with CapitaLand for a store in Westgate mall, which will open at the end of this yr. Grp is slated to open in JEMS, a new shopping mall which will be operational by May 29, 2013, and will bring presence in the West to three stores. In Msia, grp successfully launched the Jerteh, Terengganu store in Jan, bringing store network to 59. Before the end of March, will add one more store in Sg Petani, Alor Setar, with further store openings in Johor for 1Q13. Grp will continue to leverage unique business model to stay ahead of the competition as it expand its physical footprint and online share. Separately, grp note this morning that its First Indonesian Megastore in Bekasi, eastern Jakarta, will be the Group’s largest in the region when it opens in 2014. The approximately 140,000 sf, 2-storey megastore will be the Group’s largest store to date once it is operational.