Trevor Chappell
AAP
April 20, 2012
AS GLOOM grips Australia’s retail sector, business is improving for the owner of the Priceline chain, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries.
Shares in the health, beauty and pharmacy products retailer surged 8.8 per cent yesterday as it foreshadowed significant expansion after revealing it had posted a profit for the six months to February.
API booked a first-half profit of $18.3 million compared with a $35.1 million loss a year earlier.
The result included the recovery of $9.1 million from an insurance claim arising from damage caused by the Queensland floods last year to the group’s Ipswich distribution centre.
On an underlying basis, which strips out the impact of one-off costs and gains, net profit increased 10.3 per cent to $11.8 million.
Chief executive Stephen Roche said API wanted to grow its network of 332 Priceline stores “quite significantly” by 2015.
API shares jumped 3c to 37c yesterday.
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