Central Retail Corp, Thailand's largest retail conglomerate, yesterday announced it would invest Bt9.8 billion in expansion this year, more than double its budget for last year.
CEO Tos Chirathivat said CRC expected to open 56 retail outlets, operated by the group's various units - Central, Robinson, B2S, PowerBuy, Super Sports and HomeWorks - this year, which would take the total to 473.
Overall retail space will also increase, by 8.6 per cent to 1.09 million square metres.
He said the group's sales were expected to increase 5.2 per cent this year to Bt97.1 billion. The closure of CentralPlaza Lat Phrao for six months from April will, however, impact the company's performance.
Tos said about Bt4.8 billion of the investment budget would be allocated to the group's new retail projects as well as the purchase of land.
About Bt1.5 billion will be for major renovations of retail complexes such as CentralPlaza Lat Phrao, CentralPlaza Pinklao, CentralPlaza Chidlom, Central Festival Phuket and Robinson Hat Yai.
"CRC will this year open its first overseas branch, Central Hangzhou, in China in April. The group will also open a Robinson Department Store in Trang province in November. Robinson Trang will be opened under the new retail concept, which will also be a pilot model for further upcountry stores of Robinson," said Tos.
He said the group also planned to open retail complexes in Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, and Rama IX in Bangkok next year.
"We will start our Central Embassy project at the plot [previously owned by the British Embassy] this year. The project will require investment of about Bt10 billion and will take about three years for construction," said Tos.
CRC will allocate about Bt3 billion of the investment budget for merger and acquisition projects.
Tos said at least one or two deals would be concluded and announced later this year.
"We are under negotiations for three to four different merger and acquisition deals. We have set aside a budget of Bt30 million for M&As," he added.
He said mergers and acquisitions would be the company's key strategy to accelerate growth, expected to contribute 4-5 percentage points on top of normal organic growth.
CRC will invest another Bt500 million in upgrading its IT system this year, Tos said.
"We will also launch new financial services this year, starting with insurance. The company is in the process of selecting an insurance company partner," he said.
The selection process will be finalised by next month, he said.
Meanwhile, Central Plaza Hotel, operator of food and hotel resorts, yesterday reported a 3-per-cent rise in revenue last year.
The group's consolidated revenue amounted to Bt8.4 billion. Net profit was Bt53.1 million, a Bt292.9-million plunge from 2008.
