Shin Kong Mitsukoshi `cautiously optimistic'

Taiwan's retail market seems to be making a recovery. Shin Kong Mitsukoshi's (新光三越) revenues grew to NT$60 billion (US$1.85 billion) this year, showing that the market is recovering from its low point last year.

But the department store's chairman, Wu Tung-hsing (吳東興), said he remains cautiously optimistic about next year, as the retail industry as a whole has not yet expanded.

Shin Kong will not open any new stores in Taiwan next year, he said, as it focuses on improving service quality and meeting consumer demand.

This should allow the company to grow by 5 percent next year, he said.

Prospects were bleak for the retail industry in the first half of the year, Wu said, but a recovery began in the second half.

Shin Kong said revenue in the first three quarters of this year was more than NT$26.4 billion -- a drop of approximately 1.56 percent.