Siam Makro Plc, the operator of Makro cash & carry store and Lotus's hypermarket, has allocated a combined 22.7-24.9 billion baht this year to expand its retail and wholesale business.
Of the total, 11.2-11.4 billion baht will be allocated for the expansion of Makro's wholesale business both domestically and internationally, business initiatives and customer engagement, and the B2B Marketplace.
The remaining 12.5-13.5 billion baht will be used for Lotus's retail business in the areas of new stores and mall expansion, refreshing and renovating its existing stores, IT, rebranding and others including new businesses, capital maintenance and energy saving.
In the first half of this year, the company operated a total of 2,597 Lotus's stores and 147 Makro stores in Thailand and 64 stores in Malaysia.
According to Saowaluck Thithapant, group chief executive for Makro business, the company plans to open three medium and large-scale retail stores in Bangkok in the second half of this year and 45-50 Lotus's go fresh stores in Thailand.
Three new retail stores will also be opened in Malaysia.
Siam Makro reported total revenue of 230 billion baht in the first half of this year, up from 111 billion year-on-year.
It posted a net profit of 3.62 billion baht for the period, up from 3.02 billion year-on-year.
"We feel more optimistic about the retail outlook in the third quarter. Sales of Makro's wholesale in the third quarter are expected to grow on par with the second quarter," she said.
"From July to August, our business grew by 10% year-on-year and the growth momentum is anticipated to continue until the first week of September due to the gradual recovery of the tourism business and restaurants, hotel catering and spa business which are back to operating their business as normal," said Ms Saowaluck.
Sompong Rungnirattisai, chief executive of Lotus's, said the company expects sales will turn positive in the second half of this year after declining by 2.1% in the first half.
"We see a gradual improvement in our sales both in Thailand and Malaysia. From July and August, same-store sales at Lotus's turned positive, while sales in Malaysian branches are improving," Mr Sompong said.