Gelonghui Nov 26th (02360.HK) announcementFor the six months ended September 30, 2021, the Group recorded revenue of about HK $863 million, an increase of about 21.7% over the same period last year.The profit attributable to the owners of the company was about HK $22.699 million, a decrease of about 36.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. After deducting the relevant non-recurrent subsidy income recorded in the same period last year, the profit attributable to the owners of the company for the six months ended September 30, 2021 increased by about 56.5% over the same period last year.
Earnings per share were approximately HK2.3 cents (for the six months ended September 30, 2020: approximately HK3.6 cents per share). The Board recommends the payment of an interim dividend of HK1.5 cents per share for the six months ended 30 September 2021 (six months ended 30 September 2020: HK2.0 cents per share).
The increase in revenue mainly reflects the effectiveness of the group's expansion strategy and product portfolio optimization. The number of retail stores in Hong Kong and Macau increased from 115 on September 30, 2020 to 129 on September 30, 2021. The increase of 0.9 percentage points in gross profit margin is mainly due to the Group's product adjustment strategy and continuous efforts to enhance its bargaining power and effectively control the Group's procurement costs.