S. Culture International has warned shareholders it expects to post a net loss in the range of HK$3 million to $4 million for the six months to June. That would equate to as much as 10 times last year’s first-half loss of $400,000.
The Hong Kong-listed retailer sells a range of international footwear brands including Clarks, Josef Seibel, The Flexx and Yokono. It has a network of around 100 stores across Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan trading as S.Culture, Shoe Mart and Scoops and under individual brands, such as Clarks, Clarks Originals and Josef Seibel.
Last March S. Culture hinted at a change of fortune after closing non-performing stores and booking gains from property disposals.
But yesterday the company essentially revealed its shoe-trading business did not return enough profit to compensate for the absence of a one-off property gain last year, worth $7.57 million. The company said another factor in the looming loss was overheads relating to the expansion of the management team it is putting in position to oversee the group’s future development.
The exact result will be revealed later this month.