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Suning Appliance Chains Group Co Ltd, one of China's largest retailers of home appliances, posted a year-on-year net profit growth of 83 percent to 180 million yuan (approx. U.S. $21.7 million) in 2004, due to its rapid network expansion.
The company, which got listed on the small to medium-enterprise board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange last year, recently released its first annual report.
According to the report, Suning's revenue totaled 9.1 billion yuan (approx. $1.1 billion) last year, an increase of 51 percent over 2003. The large increase is attributed to the firm's commitment to increasing its number of chain stores, network expansion, and maturing operations at existing stores, the company said in the report.
In 2004, Suning expanded its business into a further 23 cities and opened 46 new stores.
By the end of 2004, the company had built a network covering municipalities, capital cities, and third-tier cities. It had opened 84 chain stores in 46 cities around the country by the close of the fourth quarter.
However, the company's senior management seems unsatisfied with the results. "We should have developed much faster last year," Suning's Vice President Sun Weimin, said. "We missed some windows and the lack of skilled workers affected the company's development pace," he said.
Mr. Sun said he expected the company to grow faster this year and said the company is focusing on chain store expansion, the construction of logistics and information systems, and the training of personnel at all levels. (XIC)
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