International Housewares Retail Company Limited provided consolidated earnings guidance for the year ended April 30, 2024. for the year, the Group is expected to record a decrease in profit attributable to owners of the Company for the Year within a range of approximately 32% to 38%, as compared to the adjusted profit attributable to owners of the Company of HKD 149,634,000 for the year ended 30 April 2023 of which is excluding grants under the Employment Support Scheme by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of HKD 31,937,000. The Board considers that the decrease in the profit attributable to owners of the Company for the Year as mentioned above is mainly attributable to the following factors: 1. Firstly, the Group's revenue for the Year turned to an approximately 4.9% decline due to the high base set Last Year which caused by the surging demand for anti-pandemic supplies during the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong; and 2. Secondly, an increase in operating costs for the Year was observed, due to the increase of cost of human resources in the first half of the Year, coupled with the expiration of the rent concession from the Hong Kong Housing Authority at the end of the last calendar year.

In this regard, its stringent measures to tighten control on relevant costs as well as active negotiations with landlords have yielded results. In addition, the Group has made strategic investments in logistics which involved one-time additional expenses for relocation and upgrades of its main distribution hub in Hong Kong, which is essential for enhancing its central distribution base for globally sourced merchandise distribution efficiency and strengthening its position in the Hong Kong market.