Gome H1 profit up 67%

HONG KONG - China's home appliance retailing giant Gome announced Monday the HK-listed group has seen its pre-tax profit reaching 1.256 billion yuan ($185 million) in the first half of 2010, which represents an increase of 67.47 percent from the same period last year.

In a statement released via the HK Stock Exchange, Gome said its first-half revenue was 24.87 billion yuan, with 13.09 billion achieved in the second quarter, which Gome said was the highest single quarter revenue recorded by the group since its listing.

During the first half of 2010, Gome closed 25 "underperforming" stores and opened 39 stores in central business areas and prime regions of a few cities. Meanwhile, it completed the transformation of 75 existing stores into "new-model" stores.

Chairman of the company Chen Xiao said at an evening press conference that the company will follow a five-year development plan focusing on store network expansion, efficiency improvement, customer and supplier relationship improvement and new business development.

He attributed the rise in revenue to improved operation in its stores, saying comparable store sales rose 24.8 percent during the first half of 2010.