H2O Retailing announced its consolidated financial results for the second quarter (April-September 2013) on the 29th. Sales increased 12% year-on-year to 264.8 billion yen. Operating profit nearly doubled to 4.348 billion yen, ordinary profit increased 75.4% to 4.846 billion yen, and net profit decreased 11.7% to 2.652 billion yen. Net profit decreased due to the recording of 6 billion yen in compensation income as extraordinary income last year, but revenue from the department store business increased significantly. A major contributor to the profit increase was the Hankyu Umeda Main Store, which opened last November. Sales reached 84.265 billion yen, a 64.6% increase year-on-year. Strengthening the store's communication capabilities across the entire store has increased its ability to attract customers not only from the local market but also from a wider area.
Hakata Hankyu and Hankyu Men's Tokyo also surpassed last year's results. Hakata Hankyu's sales reached ¥18.29 billion, a 5.4% increase from the same period last year. Hankyu Men's Tokyo's sales reached ¥5.478 billion, a 7.9% increase. Overall department store sales totaled ¥192.693 billion, a 16.1% increase from the same period last year.
By product category, sales increased 10.7% for clothing, 18.3% for household goods, 9.5% for food, and 22.5% for miscellaneous goods.
For the full fiscal year ending March 2014, we forecast sales of ¥570 billion, operating profit of ¥17.2 billion, ordinary profit of ¥17.9 billion, and net profit of ¥9.3 billion. Net profit has been revised upward by ¥700 million from ¥8.6 billion, representing a 50% increase from the previous fiscal year.