Despite a sluggish retail market, 7-Eleven Malaysia had robust after tax profit, growing 40.3 per cent, in its second quarter compared with the same period last year.

Gross profit margin continued to improve, and the average customer spend edged up 4 per cent.

A milestone was the opening of the 2000th 7-Eleven store in Malaysia.

CEO Gary Brown says the net profit growth was achieved in a tough market in which the introduction of GST on April 1 last year dampened consumer FMCG spending.

“We remain confident that continuous store expansion, refurbishment, promotional activity, improved merchandise mix and expanded in-store services will continue to deliver positive results despite the challenging headwinds.”

Revenue for the second quarter, ended June 3, grew by 4.8 per cent to RM505.7 million (US$125.7 million). This was driven by store expansion, improved merchandise mix and promotional activity.

Gross profit was up 6.8 per cent to RM156.7 million, mainly because of the revenue growth and gross profit margin expansion of 0.6 per cent.

Profit before tax of RM21 million surged by 38.1 per cent, driven mainly by the revenue growth, gross profit margin expansion, other income growth and cost control.

For the six months ended June 30, the group’s revenue grew 4.5 per cent to RM1.03 billion, driven by expansion (at the period end, the group had 2001 stores). Gross profit improved by RM18.9 million, or 6.3 per cent, thanks to the revenue growth plus gross profit margin edging up 0.5 per cent.

Profit before tax was RM43.3 million, up 22 per cent.