Esprit Fiscal Year Net Falls 98% To HK$79 Million

Fashion retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd. (0330.HK) said Thursday its net profit for the 12 months ended June 30 fell 98%, weighed by provision for store closures.

The blue-chip company's full-year net profit fell to HK$79 million (US$10.1 million) from HK$4.23 billion a year earlier, far below the average HK$3.16 billion forecast of 16 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Hong Kong-listed Esprit, which competes globally with Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK) and Zara's parent company Inditex SA (ITX.MC) in the retail apparel market, said revenue edged higher to HK$33.77 billion from HK$33.73 billion.

The company, which booked a HK$1.7 billion provision loss for store closures, said it is closing down all the directly managed retail stores in Spain, Denmark and Sweden. It also said it plans to divest its business in North America.

Still, the company said it plans to invest over HK$18 billion until the fiscal year 2014/2015.

It didn't propose a final dividend. For the previous fiscal year ended June 30, 2010, the company paid a final dividend of HK$0.67.

-By Chester Yung, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2832 2331; [e-mail]