(3 December 2012 – Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited (“NWDS” or the “Company”; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in the PRC, is pleased to announce that the Company was accredited as “Asia’s 200 Best Under A Billion” by Forbes, a renowned international financial magazine for five consecutive years. 

Forbes “Asia’s 200 Best Under A Billion” aims to honor high-performing Asia-Pacific listed companies. Forbes editors screened 200 out of a universe of 15,000 Asia-Pacific companies with annual sales between USD5 million and USD1 billion, have positive net income and have been publicly traded for at least a year based on sales growth, earning growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over three years. The final list features 200 exceptional small and midsized companies from 15 countries in Asia Pacific. NWDS is one of the first investors to enter the PRC retail market. Through 19 years of continuous efforts, the Company is now operating and managing 39 stores in 17 cities across China. NWDS has become a distinguished department store operator with exceptional awareness and reputation. Among the 200, only 46 companies manage to make their second consecutive appearance while the Company has been elected as the “Asia’s 200 Best Under A Billion” by Forbes for five consecutive years since 2008, fully demonstrating the profitability, market position, corporate governance and future development of the Company is well-recognized internationally. Forbes pointed out that against the backdrop of a fragile global economy, the makeup of the Best Under A Billion are considered essential to Asia Pacific. Sales growths of this year’s 200 SMEs on the list greatly outperform the Forbes Global 2000 companies which grew at an average of 13%.

The Forbes “Asia’s 200 Best Under A Billion” Award Ceremony was held at Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where Mr. Christopher Forbes, Vice Chairman of Forbes Media LLC, numerous executives from renowned companies in Asia Pacific and other award winners attended the ceremony. 

Commenting on receiving the award for the fifth time, Mr. Philip Cheung, Managing Director and Executive Director of NWDS said, “We are very honored to be accredited as the ‘Asia’s 200 Best Under A Billion’ once again, demonstrating the Company’s long time development direction is affirmed by international media and investors. In the first half of 2012, the European sovereign debt crisis and conservative consumer sentiment have slowed down the Mainland’s economic growth and posed a major challenge to China’s retail industry. Through implementing diversified operations strategies like rebranding, improving operating efficiency, introducing exclusive brand, enhancing merchandise mix, and launching innovative marketing campaigns, the Company managed to grew its revenue by 27.6 % to HK$3,490.1 million in FY2012 with over 3.2 million VIP membership across the country as of now, differentiating itself from conventional department stores which attract customers mainly with sales promotion. Looking forward, the Company will continue the two expansion strategies of“multiple presences within a single city” and “radiation city” to be line with the state policies to further expand domestic consumption and strive to maintain a stable and rapid growth in the complex and ever-changing global economic condition, delivering attractive returns to our shareholders.”

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