(Yicai) May 21 -- Shares of Sun Art Retail Group rose after the operator of hypermarket chain RT-Mart said it swung into the black in the fiscal year 2025, mainly thanks to stable customer traffic and growing online business.

Sun Art [HKG: 6808] jumped 5.2 percent to HKD2.04 (26 US cents) a share as of 3.30 p.m. in Hong Kong today, after earlier surging by as much as 12.4 percent.

Net profit was CNY386 million (USD53.6 million) in the 12 months ended March 31, compared with a net loss of CNY1.7 billion (USD230 million) the previous year, the Hong Kong-based firm said in an earnings report released yesterday. Revenue climbed 1.6 percent to CNY71.6 billion (USD9.9 billion).

This was the first financial report published by Sun Art after Alibaba Group Holding offloaded its entire stake in the company to Chinese private equity firm DCP Capital for around HKD13.1 billion (USD1.7 billion) on Jan. 1. Sun Art's Chairman Huang Mingduan resigned after the deal was completed on Feb. 28, with Hua Yuneng from DCP taking over.

Foot traffic stabilized during the fiscal year 2025, while online customer loyalty continues to improve, said Shen Hui, chief executive of Sun Art. The company's performance has shown a moderate recovery, presenting an overall positive trend, Shen noted, adding that the firm is laying the groundwork for the new fiscal year and future development in various areas, including products, pricing, and efficiency.

Sun Art operates 505 stores across 207 cities, including RT-Mart, RT-Super, RT-Mini, and M-Club outlets, opening four new RT-Supers last year, bringing the total to 33. Same-store sales of RT-Super rose 5.9 percent from fiscal 2023, higher than the overall 0.6 percent increase from previous years.

The RT-Mart Youxian App saw its market share increase, adding new instant retail channels and boosting Sun Art's online revenue by 6 percent, according to the company.

Editor: Martin Kadiev