L'Occitane makes record profit

Beauty products manufacturer L'Occitane International's (0973) net profit rocketed nearly three times year-on-year to a record high of 59.89 million euros (HK$527.17 million) in the six months ended September.

Reported net sales grew 12.9 percent and like-for-like sales grew 18.6 percent. No interim dividend was declared.

Vice-chairman and chief executive Andre Hoffmann said the Covid-19 variant Omicron is a concern but it is expected to impost a limited impact on the group's major markets, given strong sales via the online channel.

In other news, jewelry retailer Luk Fook (0590) grew its net profit by 124.6 percent year on year to HK$654 million for the six months ended September 30.

An interim dividend of HK$0.55 per share was proposed with a dividend payout ratio of 49.4 percent. Basic earnings per share were HK$1.11, increased by 122.0 percent.

Revenue increased by 67.2 percent year on year to HK$5.6 billion. Same-store sales growth for the Hong Kong, Macau, and overseas markets was 111.1 percent while that for the mainland market was 88.9 percent.

Separately, lingerie company Regina Miracle International (2199) turned a loss into a net profit of HK$254.29 million in the six months ended September this year and declared an interim dividend of 6.8 HK cents.

It posted a loss of HK$32.42 million in the same period last year.