The listed retail arm of Thai conglomerate Central Group says revenue rose by 15 percent year-on-year to 58.77 billion Thai baht ($1.8 billion) and EBITDA was up 42 per cent to 8.03 billion baht in its latest quarter.
Net profit for the company – which operates La Rinascente department stores in Italy and the Central and Robinson’s store networks in Thailand – soared 124 percent to 2.5 billion baht.
The group did not break down the performance of its various business units, which also includes retail chains selling groceries, sportswear, stationery, and electronics across Thailand and Vietnam.
Last year, Central Retail renovated three flagship Rinascente stores in Milan, Florence and Rome while the country was in a Covid-related lockdowns with the work completed before Italy reopened its international borders in mid-2021.
“The spending power from domestic customers along with the return of European tourists boosted sales growth in the fourth quarter, matching 99 percent of sales during the pre-pandemic era,” the company said in a statement.
Full-year sales in Italy grew by 30 percent year on year, driving a fourfold increase in EBITDA.
Group-wide full-year sales reached close to $6 billion with net profit of $8.5 million.
Central Retail chief executive Yol Phokasub said the company had endured “rigorous-resilience tests” last year due to the impact of Covid-19 on trading and was ready to focus on growth in the year ahead.
Central Retail is one of several subsidiaries of Central Group, which last December agreed to pay $5.37 billion for the Selfridges department store business in the UK in partnership with Austrian real estate company Signa Group.
Earlier this month, sister subsidiary Central Pattana, the Group’s property business, revealed plans to invest $3.7 billion over the next five years to build or upgrade shopping centres, hotels and office facilities in Thailand and Vietnam, including Central-branded malls which house its fashion-led department stores.