TOKYO — Onward Holdings said Friday that its net profit for the six months ended Aug. 31 grew by 12.8 percent, despite a drop in sales and operating profit.
The retailer’s net totaled 1.92 billion yen, or $15.74 million at average exchange rates for the period. An investment gain boosted its bottom line.
First-half operating profit plummeted 91.3 percent to 225 million yen, or $1.85 million. A spokesman for the company said the decline was largely due to lower sales in March, when there was a high comparative base the year earlier. He also mentioned difficult economic conditions in Europe as a reason for the drop.
Onward said sales for the period fell 5 percent year-on-year to 125.5 billion yen, or $1.03 billion.
The company also revised its guidance for the fiscal year ending Feb 29, 2016. It lowered its net profit and operating profit forecasts, but raised its sales outlook.
The company now expects its full-year net profit to grow by 2.3 percent to 4.3 billion yen, or $35.3 million at current exchange rates. This is far more conservative than a previous forecast, which had net profit growing 18.9 percent to 5 billion yen, or $41.05 million.
Onward now expects yearly operating profit to fall 19.7 percent to 4.6 billion yen, or $37.77 million. This is down from a previous forecast of 57 percent growth to 9 billion yen, or $73.89 million.
The retailer is predicting a five percent decline in its yearly sales, for a total of 267.4 billion yen, or $2.2 billion. Its previous forecast was for a 6.2 percent drop in sales, to 264 billion yen, or $2.17 billion.
