Sales dropped for Le Saunda Holdings for its last quarter,  retail by 17.2 per cent and e-commerce business by 41.3 per cent.

This is based on unaudited data for the period to February 28, says the Hong Kong-based investment holding company that sells footwear products, bags and accessories.

During the quarter, the group’s self-owned retail business saw same-store sales drop by 15.3 per cent.

At the end of February the group had 796 outlets in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, 100 fewer that at the same time last year. Of these, 717 were company-owned, while in Mainland China there were 79 franchised outlets.

The board expects the group’s consolidated profit for the financial year may fall by about 35 to
40 per cent, primarily attributable to the significant decrease of retail sales in the fourth quarter, traditionally a peak period in retail.

Le Saunda attributes the sales drop to a substantial increase in off-season product sales ratio comparing with the previous year as it sought to clear up off-season inventory in order to minimise potential inventory pressure.

It describes the market as uncertain and sluggish.