China's top retailer plans to add 400 new stores on rosy profit

Lianhua Supermarket Holdings<980>, the largest retailer in mainland China, said on Thursday it plans to open 400 new stores this year, including supermarkets, convenience stores.
Its net profit in 2007 increased 10.1% year on year to RMB 270 million or RMB 0.43 per share. Revenue amounted to RMB 18.9 billion, up 10% from a year earlier. It recommended paying a final dividend of RMB 0.12 apiece, according to its earnings statement published today.

China's high CPI figure of 8% in the first quarter gave little impact on food sales, contrarily, it gave a push to Lianhua, said company president Wang Zhigang.

For this year, the company plans RMB 600 million investment, mainly in Yangtze River Delta. Among them, RMB 400 million will be used in adding 400 new outlets, and the remaining RMB 200 million will be earmarked for buying logistics center in Shanghai, according to Wang.