CJ More Co, the parent firm of CJ Express Group which operates CJ More super-convenience stores and CJ supermarkets, has postponed its filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Stock Exchange of Thailand for 1-2 years.
The decision comes in light of the weak market sentiment and uncertainties surrounding the country's economic future, according to Veeratham Sathientham, the company's chief executive.
"We are ready to list on the SET as scheduled this year, but the present conditions in the stock market do not favour our plans. Although the country's economy has shown signs of improvement since the beginning of the year, it still has not fully recovered to pre-crisis levels seen in 2019," he said.
Adding to their concerns is the unclear economic direction in the coming year, partly due to the ongoing political situation.
"If the new government cannot be established as it should be, it will affect the government's spending budget to be allocated to each region, eventually hitting overall spending. The economic issue is the main factor why we have decided to postpone our IPO filing," Mr Veeratham said.
In addition to economic uncertainties, CJ More also sees a number of challenges in the market, including the impact of El Niño on the agricultural sector and the potential global recession.
Despite the postponement, the company remains committed to its expansion strategy. It intends to open 250 new supermarkets and super-convenience stores every year for the next three years, aiming to reach a total of 2,000 branches by 2026 and 3,000 by 2030.
This year alone, CJ More has invested 2 billion baht to open 250 new stores across all formats, bringing the total number of branches to 1,100.
Out of the 250 new branches, 100 will be under the CJ supermarket format, while the rest will follow the CJ More super-convenience store format.
To support its expansion in the Northeast, the company is investing 1 billion baht to build a new warehouse in Khon Kaen.
"We are quite confident about our continuous expansion, particularly in the CJ More format, as the performance of our newly opened CJ More stores has been exceptionally promising. These stores have been open for less than one month have achieved sales of over 100,000 baht per day, reaching the break-even point in just three years, a significant improvement compared to the five-year period in the past," he said, attributing this remarkable success to the company's growing base of loyal customers and a diverse assortment of products that cater to various demands.
Furthermore, CJ More remains committed to constantly developing new supermarket models and expanding its product offerings to meet customers' unique demands in different regions.
According to Mr Veeratham, new stores to be opened next year will be located primarily in Bangkok and its suburbs, as well as the Central and Northeast regions.
Additionally, the company also plans to launch a new CJ More concept store in Bangkok by the end of this year. The new CJ More store will feature an impressive 500 square metres of space and a selection of up to 16,000 items, showcasing an increase from the original CJ More store, which offered only 12,000 items.
With these strategic initiatives in place, CJ More is confident that its sales will surge to 40 billion baht with a net profit of 2.5 billion baht this year. The company also anticipates future remarkable growth, with sales projected to double to 80 billion baht in 2026 and reach an impressive 100 billion baht in 2030.
In 2022, the CJ More posted sales of 3.5 billion baht, with a net profit of 1.77 billion baht.