KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The iconic clothing retailer Kamdar Group (M) Bhd has closed its Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman outlet in Kuala Lumpur with effect from Thursday to consolidate the business of two branches situated within close proximity.

In a bourse filing Sept 29, the 49-year-old textile brand, whose bread and butter is in the distribution, import, export, retail, and wholesale of textile and textile-based products in Malaysia, said the closure of its headquarters outlet would reduce operational expenses and let it out to an external party for better returns to the group. The shuttered outlet is located near Kamdar’s headquarters on the same street.

This is the group’s second branch closure following the shuttering of its Puchong branch as its tenancy had expired on July 31 and a decision was made to not renew it. Meanwhile, Kamdar relocated its Kota Kinabalu branch to a smaller lot in 1 Borneo Hypermall, Jalan Sulaman.

According to its website, the family brand — after the closure of its headquarters — now has 31 branches in the Klang Valley, Penang, Kedah, Perak, Johor, Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, Kamdar posted a net loss of RM792,000 on revenue of RM19,463. It told Bursa there were no comparative figures disclosed for the current quarter and the cumulative period-to-date results following the change in the financial year end from March 31 to June 30.

The group registered a loss before tax of RM400,000 from its revenue of RM19.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 which mainly derived from its textile business.

Kamdar’s total assets decreased by RM25.3 million to RM307.9 million as at March 31 when compared with RM333.2 million in the same period last year.

The group attributed this to the decrease in current assets by RM19.6 million due to lower inventory holding level as at the reporting period as a result of lower purchases arising from reduced retail sales.

Additionally, it added there were depreciation and amortisation charges of RM4.5 million arising from non-current assets which made up of property, plant and equipment, prepaid land lease payment and right-of-use assets. Total liabilities, which mainly comprise borrowings, lease liabilities, trade and other payables, decreased by RM20 million to RM93.6 million as at March 31 when compared with RM113.6 million last year.

The decrease was largely due to lower utilisation of borrowings during the reporting period, while the decrease in trade and other payables was mainly due to lower credit purchases arising from reduced retail sales throughout the financial period as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, Kamdar said.

Kamdar, which was established in 1972, said its stores specialise in textile and furnishing fabrics, in-house designed garments for ladies, men and children’s clothes, Indian clothing and as well as school uniforms.

Shares of Kamdar hit a year-to-date high of 36 sen on May 12, falling back to the 26 sen level within the week. As at mid-morning last Thursday, the stock stood at 27 sen for a market capitalisation of RM52.47 million.