SINGAPORE - TT INTERNATIONAL'S loss for its first quarter ended June 30 widened by 41 per cent to $18 million, mainly due to foreign exchange losses and accretion of interests on Scheme liabilities. However revenue for TT, which operates the warehouse retail outlet Big Box in Jurong rose 47 per cent to $97.1 million.

TT had entered a Scheme of Arrangement sanctioned by the High Court in 2010 which was a way of restructuring its financial liabilities.

TT added on Saturday in its results release posted on the Singapore Exchange that the group's operating environment remains challenging against a backdrop of a soft retail industry, increasing margin pressures, rising costs across geographical regions and manpower tightening policies in Singapore.

The group currently owns and operates 100 stores in six countries: Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Taiwan. TT intends to increase its total Asian retail network within the next few years.

The commencement of Big Box operations as well as the expansion of its Indonesian operations will contribute positively to TT's financial performance in the long run. This will enable it to explore various options to discharge the Scheme of Arrangement in the near future.

With full year contributions from Big Box and partial contribution from the Indonesian Retail operations for this financial year, the board is cautiously optimistic about the business outlook.

Net asset value per share rose from 7.76 cents as at March 31 to 8.11 cents as at June 30. Loss per share was 1.78 cents, up from the 1.57 cents for the same quarter last year.