Dairy Farm International reports mixed third quarter

Maxim's MX
Foot traffic fell in Maxim’s stores during Covid-19 movement restrictions.

Dairy Farm International says Covid-19 continued to impact sales in the latest quarter with improvements in grocery retailing across Southeast Asia offset by reduced sales in health and beauty and Maxim’s. 

The company’s overall performance in the third quarter was better than that of the first half year, and aided by the receipt of government support.  

The company’s interim management statement did not disclose figures, referring broadly to trends. 

The grocery retail business recorded “strong like-for-like sales growth” which drove “strong profit growth” especially in Malaysia and Singapore where an ongoing transformation plan is seeing stores refurbished, ranges adjusted and a focus on price reform. However, sales were down in Indonesia due to government restrictions on movement during the pandemic and reduced foot traffic in hypermarkets and malls

The convenience-store business achieved overall sales growth, however the Singapore 7-Eleven network was impacted by reduced footfall. 

Such restrictions across Asia impacted sales in the Guardian and Mannings businesses, especially in Hong Kong where there was no custom from visiting mainland Chinese tourists.

Sales in the Ikea division (Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia and Taiwan) rose on the back of solid online growth, and profitability improved year on year. 

Restaurant group Maxim’s, in which Dairy Farm International holds 50 per cent and includes Starbucks in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, were impacted by government movement restrictions leading to fewer customers. 

The Chinese supermarket chain Yonghui’s underlying performance in the third quarter was impacted by reduced sales, while Philippine business Robinsons Retail’s underlying performance was affected by government lockdown restrictions on its discretionary retail formats.

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