Courts Asia's net profit down 31.6% to $6.05m

As its administrative and distribution expenses went up in Q1.

Mainboard-listed retail player Courts Asia reported a 31.6% slump in its net profit to $6.1m for the past quarter.

According to the group, this followed the 4.5% dip in revenues to $186.6m.

Its revenue from Singapore, which contributed 65% to its overall revenue, dipped 2.3% whilst revenue from Malaysia suffered a 31.1% decline. 

These contractions are due to the lower sales of goods and earned service charge income.

On the other hand, Courts Asia's revenue in Indonesia jumped 17.2% higher, boosted mainly by contributions from newly-opened stores.

Meanwhile, the group's distribution and marketing expenses increased by $0.2m to $16.2m on the back of higher warehousing expenses in Singapore and higher branch salaries for newly opened stores in Malaysia and Indonesia, which are partially offset by lower distribution and marketing expenses in
Malaysia.

Its administrative expenses also increased, up by $1.6m to $44.0m as a result of higher allowance for impairment of trade receivables, increased head office expenses and higher rental costs for newly opened stores in Indonesia. This was offset partially by lower branch operating expenses in both Singapore and Malaysia.

However, finance expenses decreased by $0.4m to $5.1m in as a result of lower interest expenses in Singapore, offset by higher interest expenses in Indonesia due to increase in bank borrowings.