By staff reporter Chen Qian

With a reported net profit of 1.1 billion yuan for the first six months of the year, Suning Electrical Appliance Chain Group Co. Ltd., China's leading electronics retailer, achieved 70-percent growth year on year – an impressive performance, but also one that falls short of last year's 111 percent.

Suning posted 25.9 billion yuan in sales revenue for the first half, which equates to 39-percent year on year growth. That rate is about one-third less than the 61-percent growth they achieved in same period last year.

Earlier, China’s top appliance chain Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. (HKSE: 00493) also reported a slower growth this year. The company’s first-half, year on year growth of sales revenue and net profit were 17.6 percent and 46.8 percent, respectively, compared with 74 percent and 178 percent for the same period last year.

According to Suning, the government’s macro control measures, inflation pressure and natural disasters have had a major impact on the industry’s growth this year.

Gome said that one of a kind occurrences, including the May earthquake in Sichuan Province and flooding in southern China, slowed down the company’s revenue growth in the second quarter.

Hu Hongke, analyst from Guosen Securities, told Caijing that China’s household appliance industry has, after years of rapid expansion, seen slower growth this year as inflationary pressure has raised costs while cutting consumer demand. Hu also blamed the sales decline of household appliance to this year’s real estate slump.

1 yuan = 14 U.S. cents