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Tag: QKL Stores

  • China’s QKL Stores’ sales decline

    China’s QKL Stores’ sales decline

    Nasdaq-listed Chinese supermarket chain QKL Stores says its revenue fell four per cent in the last quarter, its profit by 4.5 per cent.

    “Our third quarter results generally met our levels of expectation,” said Zhuangyi Wang, chairman and CEO.

    “The variety, value and freshness of our products continue to resonate with our customers driving sales higher. This store growth was also driven by in-store promotional events such as store anniversary celebrations.”

    But he said sales and profit were impacted by “a challenging environment” for retail businesses, mainly due to the rising costs and the emerging eCommerce channel.

    “However, we are still confident on the domestic needs because of the urbanisation of the third and fourth tier cities that we will achieve a fundamental improvement in the consumer purchasing power during the process.”

    Third quarter revenue totalled $58.6 million, down from $61.1 million in the same quarter last year. Gross profit was $9.8 million, down from $10.3 million.

    “We look forward to the upcoming holiday season as we have a number of exciting marketing initiatives planned,” said Wang.

    “Our balance sheet is healthy with a strong cash position, low level of debt and stable flow of cash from operations. We continue to make progress with our store operations and that can result in greater sales and profits over time.”

    Based in Daqing, China, QKL Stores is a regional supermarket chain company operating in Northeastern China and Inner Mongolia. It operates 45 supermarkets, hypermarkets and department stores – two less than at the same time last year.

  • Profit falls as QKL Stores buys market share

    Profit falls as QKL Stores buys market share

    QKL Stores  a regional supermarket chain in Northeastern China and Inner Mongolia, has announced improved sales, but lower profit in the second quarter.

    Zhuangyi Wang, chairman and CEO, said the company had boosted its promotional activities in existing stores to strengthen its competitive position.

    Second quarter sales rose 9.2 per cent to US$56.4 million and gross profit decreased 4.3 per cent to $9.1 million.

    “The decrease in gross profit relative to net sales was due to competitions arising from the increasing challenge from the online shopping that have significant pricing pressure on our selling of high margin products.”

    Wang said QKL plans to slow down the pace of its new store openings this year.

    “Currently, we expect to open two new supermarket stores this year. We maintain confidence in our strategy of strengthening our store presence in Tier 4 and 5 cities in northeastern China as well as in our core region of operation around Daqing where the majority of our older stores are based.”

    Based in Daqing, QKL Stores sells a broad selection of merchandise, including groceries, fresh food, and non-food items, through its 40-odd retail supermarkets, hypermarkets and department stores; the company also has its own distribution centers that service its supermarkets.

    “As QKL expands its market presence in northeast China, we are uniquely positioned against our local competitors through our large product offering, strong supplier relationships, efficient distribution network and state-of-the-art IT system,” said Wang.

    “We are comfortable with our opportunities in the second half of the year and believe we’ll see an improvement in operating expenses and net result from the current quarter.”