Gome Electrical Appliances Holding, China's second largest home appliance retailer, rebounded yesterday after earnings improved in the fourth quarter although it made a full-year loss for the first time.
It suffered a net loss of 596.6 million yuan (US$94.7 million) in 2012 after sales plummeted. The retailer made a profit of 1.8 billion yuan in 2011.
But Gome's strategy to focus on multi-channel operations helped it earn a net profit of 90 million yuan in the final three months of 2012, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.
Shares of Gome rose 2.29 percent to 89 Hong Kong cents (12 US cents) yesterday, after falling 2.25 percent on Monday.
"The macro-economic slowdown and a series of unfavorable factors pose the biggest challenge to the company since its establishment," Gome said in a statement.
Gome's revenue fell 19.9 percent from a year ago to 47.8 billion yuan, only about half of arch rival Suning Appliance Co's sales of 98.4 billion yuan during the same period.
Shenzhen-listed Suning said earlier this month that profit plunged 44 percent to 2.68 billion yuan amid slower growth and competition from strong e-commerce players.
Gome's e-commerce business contributed 4.4 billion yuan of revenue but the retailer incurred a loss of 500 million yuan in this segment.
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