Central Retail Corporation (CRC), the retail arm of Central Group and the country's biggest mall operator, has vowed to continue investing heavily this year, even as an attempt to operate Tesco's stores in Thailand and Malaysia has not materialised.
Yol Phokasub, the company's chief executive, said CRC will press on with investments this year, with an emphasis on the booming Vietnam market, regardless of what happens with Tesco.
"Our growth plan has had an organic focus rather than mergers and acquisitions," Mr Yol said.
He declined to comment on whether Central would bid for Tesco's 1,976 stores in Thailand and 74 in Malaysia.
Mr Yol said the company plans to allocate 24 billion baht raised through an IPO to expand business, renovate existing stores and repay debt.
Normally the company spends 14-15 billion baht a year to expand. This year, CRC plans to open 180 new stores through a multi-platform approach across Thailand, Vietnam and Europe.
"We will increase the investment budget in Vietnam this year because it has huge growth potential, even as its retail market lags behind Thailand," Mr Yol said. "This is an opportunity for CRC to reach 800-1,000 branches in the future."
Central Group is the leading foreign retailer in Vietnam. CRC operates 133 stores in 63 provinces in Vietnam, totalling 306,147 square metres of sales space in 2018.
Of the total 133 stores in Vietnam, 33 are hypermarkets. The company began renaming some Big C hypermarkets in Vietnam as "Go!", part of a gradual change. Seven Go! hypermarkets are scheduled to open in Vietnam this year, bringing the total to 40 branches.
"We aim to double our presence in Vietnam in five years," said Philippe Jean Broianigo, chief executive of Central Group Vietnam. "We have a pretty strong brand in Vietnam and confidence moving forward."
CRC reported total sales of 207 billion baht and a net profit of 10 billion baht in 2018, with an average annual growth rate of 8.3% (2016-18). Of the total sales, 15.6 billion baht came from Europe, 25.4 billion baht from Vietnam and the rest from Thailand.
As of 2018, CRC had 3,856 points of sale in three countries. Of the total, nine retail stores are in Europe, 133 are in Vietnam and the rest in Thailand.