United Electronics Company (eXtra) announces interim financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2012

04/08/2012

Khobar, Saudi Arabia; April 8, 2012: United Electronics Company (eXtra), Saudi Arabia’s fastest-growing big box consumer electronics and home appliance retailer, today announced its estimated financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2012, demonstrating the success of the company’s ambitious store expansion strategy and customer-centric approach.

Further underscoring the company’s success, eXtra reported that estimated total sales during the first quarter of 2012 reached SAR 626 million, an increase of 31.3 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2011. For the three months ending March 31, 2012, eXtra reported an estimated net profit of SAR 23.8 million, an increase of 25 per cent compared to the same period of 2011. eXtra reported a gross margin during the same period of SAR 111.9 million, an increase of 22 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2011.

The key drivers behind achieving the estimated growth in revenues and profits are the increase in eXtra stores from 18 stores in the first quarter of 2011 to 25 stores by the end of the first quarter of 2012, the positive growth of like for like stores, all stores delivering positive profitability, the growth across all product categories, and the continuous focus on driving operational efficiency.

"eXtra" revealed that the high growth rates achieved in the first quarter of 2012 were across all categories and lead by the digital segment, thanks to the company's investment in marketing initiatives and the provision of sufficient inventory to meet demand and make the best use of the opportunities available in the market. "eXtra" also continued to enhance its operational excellence by taking constructive actions and measures, including improved management systems in stores and reduction in the time required to deliver products.

"These results are a demonstration of the importance and increased confidence by our customers which also reflected the growing number of shoppers which increased by more than 24% during the first quarter of this year, resulting in turn on the results, along with the successful expansion program which was announced and adopted by 'eXtra' in 2011. eXtra’s aggressive expansion programme undertaken in 2011 continues to reap significant benefits, with new stores contributing incremental sales and all stores performing at levels significantly above their targets,” said Abdullah Abdulatif Al Fozan. “Our focus for the remainder of 2012 is firmly on maintaining our positive momentum. We will achieve this by accelerating our store opening programme and by remaining fully focused on offering customers great value and quality products that are not available anywhere else in the market.”

Currently, eXtra provides the over 10 million customers it serves annually with more than 12,000 products across its 25 stores in Saudi Arabia. In addition, eXtra recently introduced its online shopping portal (www.extra.com), the first fully fledged electronics and home appliance website of its kind in the Kingdom.