New Carrefour stores to spur revenue growth

 

French retailer Carrefour hopes to see revenue from its Malaysian hypermarkets increase by a fifth next year, similar to last year's performance.

The anticipated improvement in the economy and opening of additional outlets will help spur growth, its chief executive officer Guillaume de Colonges said.

"In the first half, Carrefour had some difficulties. But, in the past few weeks since Ramadhan, we have been experiencing some improvement in our business," de Colonges said in an interview with Business Times.

He expects a like-for-like performance based on 16 hypermarkets (end-2008) to contract slightly. However, the opening of four stores this year could lift its business into positive territory.

"The country's gross domestic product is expected to be positive. We will have four new stores, and we expect current stores to do better and recover to what we experienced in 2008," de Colonges said.

A search at the Companies Commission of Malaysia showed that Carrefour's revenue in the financial year ended December 31 2008 was RM1.59 billion, up 20.5 per cent from fiscal year 2007. Its net profit was RM33.15 million.

The top three performers were the Wangsa Maju, Mid Valley Megamall and Subang outlets.

As part of efforts to attract more customers, the retailer will strive to be more sensitive to their needs.
Carrefour in Malaysia is operated by Magnificient
Diagraph Sdn Bhd, which is 30 per cent owned by the Negri Sembilan royalty-controlled Syarikat Pesaka Antah.

The retailer has added a new store format, called Carrefour Market.

Located within The Sphere in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur, the 2,037 sq m outlet emphasises food..

Out of its 16,000 to 17,000 stock-keeping units, only 15-20 per cent are non-food items.

Carrefour plans to expand the store format if the opportunity arises, de Colonges said.