China Resources Enterprise reported a full-year loss for last year as it grapples with the costs of merging with Tesco’s Chinese chain, including closing low-performing stores and ending leases.
China Resources posted a net underlying loss of HK$794 million ($102 million) in the year ending in December, the operator of Vanguard hypermarkets and Ole supermarkets said in a statement on Friday, compared with an underlying profit of HK$1.64 billion a year earlier.
The state-backed retailer warned of the loss on 3 March, its second profit warning in four months. Hong Kong-based China Resources, which announced the Tesco deal in October 2013, made a provision of HK$800 million in the fourth quarter as part of the integration, the company said.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
