Berli Jucker Plc (BJC), a consumer goods trading firm and the owner of Big C Supercenter Plc, remains committed to expanding its retail business this year, despite lingering concerns about consumer spending.
Rami Piirainen, the company's vice-president for investor relations, said the company is on course to open five new Big C Supercenters in the remaining months of this year, bringing the total to 148 branches.
Each requires investment of 300 million baht.
"Same-store growth at Big C grew marginally by 0.3% in the first quarter this year, with performance slowing in April and May, leading the figure to contract by 0.5% in the second quarter," he said. "The company witnessed a recovery in same-store sales in June, then a dip again in August because of flooding in several provinces. We're unsure about consumers' purchasing power in the remaining months."
Earlier, the company said it planned to open 200 new Mini Big C stores this year.
Of the total, half would be its own investment and half will be developed as franchises.
The company opened 50 Mini Big Cs in the first half of this year and will open the remaining 50 stores in the third and fourth quarter of this year. Each store requires an investment of 4.5 million baht.
For franchise Mini Big C stores, the company postponed expansion plans this year because it is in the process of modifying franchise regulations.
The expansion plan will be ready next year, said Mr Piirainen.
The company is also expanding six stores, right-sizing renovations at four stores and fully renovating three stores.
The company also plans to introduce "Big C Food Place," a new supermarket catering to the urban food market trend.
The first Big C Food Place will opened on 800 square metres at Bangsue Gateway complex on Oct 28 this year.
The company is spending 40 million baht to build this supermarket with 15,000 products.
Big C reported sales totalled 53.7 billion baht, up 4.6% year-on-year from the same period last year, with a net profit rising 11.11% year-on-year to 2.9 billion baht from 2.61 billion baht in the first half of 2017.
BJC has four major lines of business: retailing, packaging products (glass bottles and aluminium cans), food and non-food consumer products, and healthcare and technical products. BJC also has a significant presence in other countries in Southeast Asia.
Big C contributed to 70% of BJC's total sales and 62% of the group's net profit. BJC reported sales of 76.1 billion baht in the first half of this year, up 4.5% over the same period of last year. Net profit increased by 44.9% to 2.84 billion baht for the period.
Tris Rating predicted recently BJC should be able to maintain competitive strengths due to its lengthy track record, economies of scale and well-established logistics network.
Tris expects the company to maintain a strong position in the modern retail trade segment in Thailand and continue to expand its footprint nationwide.
Tris's base-case forecast assumes revenue growth at a single-digit rate annually over the next three years. Growth drivers are new modern trade retailing outlets, growth in the packaging and consumer products segments, and a gradual economic rebound.
BJC shares closed yesterday on the SET at 58.50 baht, up 1.50 baht, in trade worth 4.57 billion baht.