Proposed a final dividend of HK6.0 cents per share

Highlights:

• Revenue recorded approximately HK$1,930.8 million.
• Gross profit recorded approximately HK$694.3 million.
• Operating profit recorded approximately HK$213.6 million.
• Profit attributable to owners of the Company recorded approximately HK$168.3 million.
• As at 31 December 2023, the Group operated a total of 167 chain retail stores, including 159 retail stores in Hong Kong, 7 retail stores in Macau and 1 retail store in Mainland China.
• Basic earnings per share was approximately HK16.8 cents. The Board recommended the payment of final dividend of HK6.0 cents per share.

Financial Highlights:

HK$'000	Nine months ended 31 Dec 2023	Year ended31 Mar 2023
Revenue	1,930,831	2,305,907
Gross profit	694,258	817,263
Gross profit margin	36.0%	35.4%
Operating profit	213,644	248,921
Profit attributable to owners of the Company	168,335	200,997
Basic earnings per share (HK cents)	16.8	20.1

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 24 March 2024 – Best Mart 360 Holdings Limited ("Best Mart 360" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; stock code: 2360.HK), a leisure food retailer in Hong Kong, announced its results for the nine months ended 31 December 2023 ("the Financial Period under Review"). As the Company changes the financial year end date from 31 March to 31 December, which is different from the length of the previous reporting period, the audited comparative figures may not be fully comparable. During the Financial Period under Review, the revenue recorded by the Group amounted to approximately HK$1,930,831,000, representing a period-on-period increase of approximately 17.3% as compared with the unaudited revenue of same nine-month period in 2022. During the Financial Period under Review, the Group recorded an approximately 3.4% growth in same store sales performance (for the year ended 31 March 2023: approximately 2.5% growth). During the Financial Period under Review, gross profit was approximately HK$694,258,000, compared with the gross profit of approximately HK$817,263,000 for the year ended 31 March 2023. The Group's gross profit margin for the nine months ended 31 December 2023 was approximately 36.0%, representing an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared with 35.4% for the year ended 31 March 2023. Profit attributable to owners of the Company was approximately HK$168,335,000 (for the year ended 31 March 2023: approximately HK$200,997,000). The Group's net profit margin was approximately 8.7% for both the nine months ended 31 December 2023 and the year ended 31 March 2023. During the Financial Period under Review, basic earnings per share was approximately HK16.8 cents (for the year ended 31 March 2023: HK20.1 cents). BUSINESS REVIEW19 new retail stores & increase footprint in residential areas As at 31 December 2023, the Group operated a total of 167 chain retail stores (31 March 2023: 154 stores), including 159 chain retail stores (31 March 2023: 145 stores) in Hong Kong, 7 chain retail stores (31 March 2023: 7 stores) in Macau and 1 chain retail store (31 March 2023: 2 stores) in Mainland China, respectively. During the Financial Period under Review, the Group opened 19 new retail stores, and closed 6 stores upon expiration of their respective lease terms in alignment with the optimisation of the Group's store opening strategy. Rental expense (cash basis) for retail stores was approximately HK$183,154,000 for the nine months ended 31 December 2023 (for the year ended 31 March 2023: approximately HK$220,230,000). The ratio of rental expense (cash basis) to sales revenue of retail stores for the nine months ended 31 December 2023 was approximately 9.5%, which was lower than that of approximately 9.6% for the year ended 31 March 2023. Kept optimising product mix & enhancing the development of private label products During the Financial Period under Review, the Group continued its global procurement policy and mission by sourcing broad spectrum of products worldwide that meet and satisfy market trend and demand. To better cater to the needs of the local community and the international travellers, the Group further strengthened the supply of basic foodstuffs such as cereals, noodles, canned food, milk, chilled and frozen food, daily necessities and basic grocery products. In addition, the Group continued to strengthen its private label sales in retail stores, including nuts and dried fruits, organic grains, wet tissues, canned food, biscuits and snacks, etc., providing consumers with more diversified choices. For the nine months ended 31 December 2023, the Group offered a total of 3,724 stock keeping units ("SKUs") of products (for the year ended 31...