Chinese home appliance retailer Gome has turned its 13.1 million yuan (US$2.1 million) loss in the first quarter last year into a net profit of 76.33 million yuan (US$12.44 million) this year.

Gome says revenue for the three months to March increased 18.2 per cent to 12.34 billion yuan (US$2.01 billion), boosted by its e-commerce business.

“The first quarter results attest to the group’s full implementation of the ‘multi-channel retailer’ strategy leveraging our online and physical store integration,” said CEO Wang Junzhou.

It says it will remain focused on its core business of physical stores by continually developing its store networks.

While aware of the challenges in the market, Gome believes it has significant room for growth with the Chinese economy steadily growing, rising urbanisation, growing purchasing power and improving consumption patterns.

Gome has 1081 stores in China including Dazhong Appliances branded stores.