Principal Activities

Principally engaged in the retailing of footwear in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan.

Latest Results

The Group's loss attributable to shareholders for the year ended 31-03-2020 amounted to HKD 291.0 million. Basic loss per share was HKD 0.4063. No dividend declared. Turnover amounted to HKD 40.98 million, a decrease of 63.4% over the same period last year, gross profit margin up 29.3% to 65.8%. (Announcement Date: 30 Jun 2020)

Business Review - For the year ended March 31, 2020

For the financial year ended 31 March 2020, the Group recorded a decrease of 63.4% in its consolidated revenue to approximately HK$41 million (2019: HK$112 million), which comprised mainly in retailing of footwear, financial services business and e-Commerce and e-Payment business. The Group’s overall operating expenses as a percentage of turnover increased by 150.3 percentage points. Loss attributable to the equity holders was approximately HK$291 million for the six months ended 31 March 2020 (2019: HK$257 million). Loss per share amounted to approximately HK40.63 cents per share (2019: HK35.83 cents).

Retailing Business

The Group is principally engaged in retailing of a diversified range of footwear products under its own brands, namely, ARTEMIS, COUBER.G, FORLERIA, A+A2, TRU-NARI, MY WALKER and WALACI, through its self-managed retail shops (“Self-managed Shops”). The Group continues to reduce its retail points and instead shifts the strategic direction towards online e-Commerce platform. For the financial year ended 31 March 2020, the revenue generated from retailing business was approximately HK$7 million (2019: HK$110 million), representing a decrease of 93.2% as compared to last year.

Financial Services Business

The Group is engaged in the financial services to institutional and retail clients in Hong Kong and PRC. The Group possesses licenses for a various range of financial services in Hong Kong including money lending and other financial services. The group will continue to invest further resources to enhance its overall customer service in expanding its customer basis in the future. For the financial year ended 31 March 2020, the revenue generated from financial services business was approximately HK$12 million (2019: HK$12 million).

Operations of Convenience Stores

The Group is engaged in the operations of convenience stores in PRC. The convenience stores provide a wide range of everyday consumer products, and also offer a range of other services, such as: 5G Smart Services, breakfast and supper sets, courier services, simple home repairing services, etc. During the year, the Group continued to proceed with the expansion and transformation of its convenience stores in the PRC. The Group considers the growth potential of this operation to be high and intends to actively seek for expansion to attract a larger base of customers. For the financial year ended 31 March 2020, the revenue generated from the operations of convenience stores was approximately HK$8 million (2019: Nil).

e-Commerce and e-Payment Business

The Group is designated by UnionPay International Co., Ltd as its oversea UnionPay card acquiring institution and has granted the authorization to conduct offline acquiring business in Hong Kong, Italy, France, Korea and Japan, as well as the global online acquiring business.

Business Outlook - For the year ended March 31, 2020

At present, the Group actively seeks the suitable merchant to install the point-of-sale terminals to develop the offline acquiring business. The Group intended to sell the e-Commerce and e-Payment business to potential investors.

Source: Vestate Group (01386) Annual Results Announcement