Mega Home Center Co, a home and construction materials retailer, expects domestic growth in the value of construction materials to fall short of last year's figure, as the economic outlook remains poor.
Chief operating officer Supornsri Naktanasukanjn said the value of Thailand's domestic construction materials market grew by 15% to 590 billion baht in 2014 as construction demand along the border helped to boost consumption.
Mega Home, a subsidiary of the Home Pro home-improvement chain, expects construction material growth this year of less than 15% due largely to the sluggish property market and subsiding demand from neighbouring countries.
"We still believe it'll be double-digit growth, although we're concerned that demand in Bangkok and other provinces is not very good," Ms Supornsri said.
Construction material demand has been hurt by the delay in government infrastructure projects and lower agriculture prices that lead to reduced purchasing power.
"We hope demand will pick up in the third quarter, as the government said it had accelerated the projects and issued a stimulus package, which should help to shore up demand eventually," Ms Supornsri said.
She said the government's promotion of special economic zones would have little effect on demand for construction materials, as the building process at SEZs is yet to get started.
Mega Home plans to launch a seventh store in Bangkok this year at a cost of 400-500 million baht, while an eighth branch will be located in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district to capitalise on rising demand from SEZs.
"Although the economy is still in a downward trend, the company is maintaining plans to open new branches," Ms Supornsri said.
"We intend to have up to 20 branches by 2018 but are trying to expand our business carefully."
Mega Home expects full-year revenue to reach its target of 4 billion baht.
The company achieved revenue of 2.8 billion baht last year, outpacing the target of 2.5 billion baht.
The company forecasts a rise in sales to 10 billion baht by 2018, when Mega Home expects to have 20 branches.