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"Still, it's targeted to beat the country's 2009 economic growth by 2-3 per cent," said president Preecha Ekkunagul.

He said if economic growth was 4 per cent, the company would record growth of 8 per cent in total sales and 6 per cent in same-store sales, excluding newly opened stores, compared with an estimate of 10-per-cent sales growth for the full year.

He said the company was on target for business expansion with the opening of two or three new stores annually with an investment budget of about Bt1 billion.

Robinson will open two new stores next year, one in Chon Buri in the second quarter and one in Khon Kaen in the last quarter, each costing Bt500 billion to Bt600 billion and having 10,000-12,000 square metres of sales area.

"Total investment for next year is expected to reach Bt1.3 billion, including Bt250 million for renovation," said vice president Parivat Sopasit.

Robinson has done a major renovation in its Udon Thani branch, is renovating in Sri Racha and Bang Rak plus Fashion Island and will make minor renovations in Rattanathibet, Ratchadaphisek and Sukhumvit.

Robinson has 20 stores - nine in Bangkok and 11 upcountry - and plans a new one in Ubon Ratchathani after 2010.

Robinson showed strong third-quarter sales growth with an increase of 11.79 per cent year on year for total sales and 10.3 per cent for same-store sales, excluding stores not fully operational throughout the previous year, such as Jungceylon, Silom and Bang Khae.

The company achieved total sales of Bt2.94 billion in the third quarter, up from Bt2.63 billion in the same period last year. Total sales for the first nine months of the year were Bt9.05 billion, up 12.84 per cent year on year.

Robinson posted a third-quarter net profit of Bt198.83 million, down from Bt217.49 million in the same period last year. For the first nine months, the net profit was Bt770.85 million, up from Bt594.04 million in the same period last year.

Preecha said third-quarter sales had been slightly affected by the political unrest, posting an average drop of 2-3 per cent, but were returning to normal.

Preecha attributed the strong sales growth in the third quarter to a marketing strategy focused on fashion products at affordable prices plus product mix and differentiation.

He said the company had, however, seen lower spending in this quarter, due to the world recession and Thai political uncertainty.

"No one can precisely estimate what the impact of the world economic crisis will be," said Preecha.

But he said the company would continue investment expansion, store renovation and the development of new products and marketing strategy to drive sales growth.