Commune Lifestyle parent Koda reports solid rebuilding

Koda, the parent of furniture retailer Commune Lifestyle, has reported a net profit of US$2.2 million for the nine months to the end of March, a 66.9 per cent increase over the same period last year.

And the group’s gross profit margin rose to 27.7 last year from 23.6 per cent in 2014, and reversing two years of losses, the group had a net profit of $1.6 million for the financial year to June 30 last year. It attributes this to marketing, revised business strategies and restructuring.

Koda is an original design manufacturer specialising in design-intensive household furniture for the upper middle class. Commune Lifestyle, led by the third generation of the founding Koh family, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koda that runs four stores in Singapore, three distributor-retail (DR) stores in Malaysia and 35 DR stores in China, as well as one brand-in-store presence in Australia. It is planning to expand its DR network and set up another hub in eastern China.

During the year to June 30, Commune added 17 DR outlets in China. There are more than 40 outlets, mainly in China.

Meanwhile, the group has been streamlining. It has consolidated its production units, relocated factories out of China, disposed of the loss-making retail business Rossano in Vietnam, and disposed of certain non-core assets for cash.

Koda is headquartered in Singapore with manufacturing plants in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) and Malaysia (Johor and Senai). It sells to more than 50 countries, mainly Asia and the US.