Gome, China's largest consumer electronics retailer in terms of number of stores, announced yesterday that its net profit for 2008 fell by 7 percent from a year earlier, the first ever since listing. Sales surged by 8 percent during the same period.

Company executives attributed the profit decline to the sluggish electronics market in the country due to the financial crisis, and more importantly, to the ongoing investigation of Gome's founder Huang Guangyu who was in police custody for alleged illegal share trading in early November.

Gome's business performance was, however, overshadowed by that of Suning, the second largest player in China, which released its financial report in February.