Gome returns to profit as demand rallies

Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd said yesterday it returned to profit in the first three quarters as the domestic home appliance market rebounded.

Profit in the nine months ended September 30 totaled 582 million yuan ($94 million), with sales adding 8 percent to 41.7 billion yuan, the company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing yesterday.

The home appliance retailer's profit in the third quarter was 260 million yuan.

Comparable store sales, a key measurement for existing stores' performance, rose 8.8 percent in the third quarter after the retailer optimized its network.

Gome said it will continue to introduce more product categories to its online shopping unit and share its logistic infrastructure with its online unit and offline stores.

"We will continue to deliver synergies between our online and offline businesses and continue to ride the booming domestic retail market," Wang Junzhou, president of Gome Electrical Appliances Holding, said in a statement yesterday.

By the end of the third quarter this year, Gome ran 1,063 stores in 256 cities nationwide.