Yamada Denki Co. said Tuesday its net profit jumped 50 percent to a record 28.82 billion yen for the year that ended in March, driven by aggressive store openings and strong sales of flat-screen TVs.
The country's largest home electronics store chain said it became the first specialty volume retailer to top annual revenue of 1 trillion yen, reporting a 17 percent year-on-year gain to 1.1 trillion yen.
During fiscal 2004, the Gunma-based company opened a net 37 new stores to bring its total to 265 outlets.
It said the Athens Olympic Games and unusually hot summer last year buoyed sales of flat-screen TVs, DVD recorders and air conditioners.
On a volume basis, sales of plasma display panel TVs grew by some 1.8 times while those of liquid crystal display panel TVs jumped 2.6 times, company officials said.
For the current fiscal year, the firm expects to set new earnings records on the back of continued strength in flat-screen TVs. It forecasts 33.01 billion yen in net profit on revenue of 1.28 trillion yen.