Courts Asia

Courts Asia: Decent set of results which was largely in-line. Net profit at $7m, +5% y/y, as sales growth was up 2% y/y to $197.1m. Revenue from Singapore, which makes up 69% of Group’s sales, was up 2% due to strong performances from the relaunched Megastore in Tampines and the branch in Toa Payoh. Like-for-like sales, excluding export, saw a robust growth of 7.6%. Sales in Malaysia were however affected by the haze situation and the general election in the country, resulting in 4.2% decline in like-for-like sales. This was however mitigated by higher service charge income due to higher credit yield, as well as contribution from new stores, resulting in 1% growth in overall turnover. Going forward, grp remains confident on its prospects following the recent launch of its Big-Box Megastore in Malaysia, with a second ‘Big-Box’ site having been secured in Subang Jaya, which would double its Malaysian store foot print since its IPO. The group also remains on track to open its first Indonesian Big Box store in Eastern Jakarta by 2014.