KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 24): 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s (SEM) net profit inched down 1.58% to RM25.36 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), from RM25.77 million a year earlier, dragged by lower profit contribution from the pharmaceutical segment. Earnings per share slid to 2.28 sen from 2.29 sen.

The lower earnings was despite revenue jumping to a record high of RM1.07 billion, up 13.01% from RM943.67 million in 2QFY2022.

The group's pharmaceutical arm, Caring Pharmacy Group Bhd, reported a drop in gross profit margins to 19.4%, from 19.6% previously, due to significantly lower offtake of Covid-19 related items which carry relatively higher product margins.

This was on top of lower sales productivity of newly acquired stores during the refurbishment and rebranding period, added SEM in a bourse filing on Thursday (Aug 24).

Accordingly, the segment’s core profit came in lower at RM6.58 million, down 26.6% compared with RM8.96 million in 2QFY2022. Revenue, however, increased 13.1% to RM338.46 million from RM299.39 million, primarily driven by new stores' sales contribution.

SEM said its convenience store segment posted a core profit of RM26.02 million, up 4.2% from RM24.98 million previously, as revenue rose 13% to RM727.99 million from RM644.28 million.

The segment's better showing was attributed to a higher average per store day (APSD) and customer count as consumer spending and trading activities remained upbeat, fuelled by the Aidilfitri festivities, leading to a positive same-store sales growth of 10.5%.

For the first six months of FY2023, SEM's net profit fell 18.16% to RM41.04 million, from RM50.15 million last year, while revenue rose 14.56% to RM2.04 billion from RM1.78 billion.

SEM’s share price settled four sen or 2.04% higher at RM2, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM2.34 billion. Over the past one year, the stock has gained 27%.