PCRT – BT

Parkson and Perennial China announce first results since IPO

TWO companies listed this year have announced their financial results.

Department store operator Parkson Retail Asia reported revenue of $106.6 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30, up 19.6 per cent from the last corresponding quarter. Net profit stood at $13.2 million for the quarter, up 29.1 per cent over the same quarter last year.

Parkson began its share trading on Nov 3 after concluding its initial public offering (IPO) on Nov 1. Its offer shares were priced at 94 cents each. It recently opened two malls in Indonesia and one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Parkson Retail Asia is a unit of Malaysia’s Parkson Holdings Bhd. Parkson closed at $1.20 yesterday, down 1.5 cents.

Another company, Perennial China Retail Trust (PCRT) had a net loss of $719,000 for the period from June 9 (its listing date) to Sept 30.

The business trust is a developer of retail space in China.

Its initial property portfolio with five properties is worth $1.1 billion.

In a filing to the SGX yesterday, PCRT said that its amount available for distribution to unitholders for the period from its listing to Sept 30 was $6.3 million – $4 million lower than it had forecast. It attributed the shortfall to a three-month delay in the opening of its Shenyang Longemont shopping mall, which took longer than expected to get its fire safety permit from the authorities.

PCRT announced last week that it intends to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Chengdu Longemont Shopping Mall Development from the Shanghai Summit Group for 2.28 billion yuan (S$462.3 million).

Its operating assets now comprise the Shenyang Red Star Macalline Furniture Mall and Shenyang Longemont Shopping Mall.

Its Foshan Yicui Shijia and Chengdu Qingyang Guanghua shopping malls are under development.

With the Chengdu development, PCRT’s asset size is expected to increase to $1.7 billion.

Perennial China Retail Trust closed at 45.5 cents yesterday, up one cent.