Mainboard-listed Courts Asia has posted a 1.7 per cent rise in third quarter net profit to $6.3 million.

Revenue for the three months to Dec 31 was up 4 per cent at $203.3 million.

Income tax expense rose by about half to $1.96 million from $1.31 million.

Earnings per share were flat at 1.12 cents while net asset value per share climbed to 52.3 cents compared to 51.7 cents as at March 31.

The electrical, IT and furniture retailer said its revenue from Singapore, which made up some 67 per cent of group sales, fell by 2.9 per cent due to weaker consumer demand as well as lower bulk sales for the period.

However, sales in Malaysia rose by 20.8 per cent, owing to an aggressive campaign to boost credit sales, as well as an increase in furniture and electrical product sales.

New stores opened during the current financial year also contributed to the growth.

Sales in Malaysia made up about a third of the group's sales.

"We are pleased that the actions we took in Malaysia since the last quarter have started to yield results," Courts Asia's executive director and group chief executive officer Terence O'Connor said.

"We have successfully implemented a series of measures to recover our credit business which included better customer relationship management outreach to our existing customer database and rolling out new pilot credit projects."

In Singapore, Courts has expanded its online sales platform to complement its physical store operations.