The group’s consolidated profit after tax for the period to Sept 30, 2022 rose RM50 million or 191.7% to RM76 million.
In a statement to the media today, 7Eleven said revenue from its convenience stores segment was up RM536.3 million or 41.6% to RM1.83 billion. All product categories recorded increases in revenue, leading to higher gross profits, it said.
The convenience store segment saw its core profit after tax rise RM42.3 million or 292.4% to RM56.8 million while revenue from the pharmaceutical segment was up RM221.5 million or 30.6% to RM945.2 million.
The profit after tax for the period was RM36.3 million, an increase of RM6 million, or 20%, the group said.
The group’s revenue rose RM208 million or 45.3% to RM988.2 million while core profit was up RM6.9 million or 43.3% to RM22.9 million in the third quarter of the year (Q3 2022) compared with Q3 2021.
The group attributed the improvement to Malaysia’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing out that in Q3 2021, the country was only just making the transition out of the full movement control order under the national recovery plan.
At its convenience stores the average per store day sales and customer count also rose thanks to the buoyant consumer spending and trading activities.
This led to a same store sales growth (SSSG) of 58.7%. As a result, revenue rose by RM253.9 million or 62.7% compared with the previous corresponding quarter.
The statement said that revenue across all product categories also rose, resulting in a RM92.7 million or 75.9% increase in gross profit compared with Q3 2021.
The gross profit margin also improved by 240 basis points, mainly due to the lower contribution from the sale of tobacco products.
The group said that in the just ended quarter, it rolled out 21 new outlets in the 7-Cafe story format, bringing the total count to 52 as at Sept 30.
“It is encouraging to note that these 7-Cafes are more productive and have higher fresh food sales compared with a normal store,” the group said.
The 7Eleven Group now has a total of 2,446 stores, a net increase of 41 since the previous quarter.
It said its pharmaceutical segment recorded a revenue of RM329.7 million in Q3 2022, up RM54.1 million or 19.6% from the previous corresponding quarter. However, gross profit margins declined from 21.8% to 18.5% mainly due to lower off-take of higher margin products such as Covid-19 test kits and face masks.
“As a result, core profit after tax dropped RM9.5 million or 55.6% to RM7.6 million.
The 7Eleven Group had earlier acquired the pharmaceutical chain Caring Group, a corporate exercise that cost the group RM6.9 million primarily in finance costs.
The group’s consolidated profit after tax for Q3 2022 after accounting for the corporate exercise expenses was RM15.9 million, up RM7 million or 79.1%.
The group acknowledged that despite the improvements in the business environment, challenges remained.
It listed the potential headwinds as global supply chain disruptions, workforce supply constraints and cost pressures on the back of minimum wages, rising interest rates and inflation.
However, it said, it would take appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of those challenges.