(Yicai) Aug. 28 -- Chinese discount retail chain Miniso plans to speed up its global expansion and aims to have 1,500 stores in the United States alone, The Paper reported yesterday, citing Chief Marketing Officer Robin Liu.

Per store sales in the US are usually triple or quadruple those in China, Liu said, and sales at Miniso’s outlet in New York’s Times Square, which opened earlier this year, have reached 30 times those of a domestic store.

The Guangzhou-based firm will adjust the pace of its expansion and the scale of its new stores based on the room for growth and potential in different markets, with a focus on mature overseas markets such as the US and Indonesia, he said.

Miniso already has more than 240 stores in Indonesia and aims to have 1,000 in the country, Liu said. It will also open more stores in Europe, with France, Italy and Spain being the key countries.

The report did not give a timeline for the overseas expansion, but Miniso expects to have 5,000 stores in China by the end of 2027. It had 5,791 in 107 countries and regions as of the end of June, 2,187 of which were overseas.

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, Miniso’s operating revenue from its overseas business jumped 42 percent to CNY1.1 billion (USD151 million) from a year ago, its latest financial report showed. Operating income from direct sales surged 85 percent to made up over 45 percent of its total overseas revenue.

Miniso reported a 155 percent surge in annual net profit to CNY1.8 billion, with a gross profit margin of 38.7 percent, up 8.3 percentage points. It also posted CNY11.5 billion in operating revenue, a 14 percent gain. The revenue included CNY7.7 billion from its domestic sales, up 2.8 percent, and CNY3.8 billion from overseas, up 45 percent.

Miniso’s shares [HKG: 9896] closed up 2.9 percent at HKD46.25 (USD5.89) apiece today. The wider Hong Kong stock market gained 1 percent.

Editor: Tom Litting