GOME expects e-commerce operations to improve in H2

HONG KONG Aug 31 (Reuters) - China's No.2 home appliance retail chain operator GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd , which is backed by private equity firm Bain Capital, said on Friday that it expects sales and profit margins for its e-commerce business to improve in the second half.

In the first half of the year, GOME logged a loss of 260-270 million yuan ($41-43 million) at its e-commerce business, causing the company to swing to a net loss during the period.

"The loss was narrower than in the same period last year already. Since most of our investment in e-commerce has been made, the situation will improve in the second half," Chief Financial Officer Victor Fang told a teleconference after the company announced its interim results. (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Chris Lewis)