Parkson 百盛 (5657)

Region:

Indonesia

• Ventured under the name Centro Lifestyle Department Store

Sri Lanka

• Ventured under the name Odel

Performance:

• The earnings of Parkson Retail Group which manages its China operations fell 17% y-o-y to RM136mil due to weak same-store-sales growth in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, its Asean operations under Parkson Retail Asia is still buzzing with activity, with Malaysia recording same-store sales growth of 9.2% y-o-y, Vietname 9% and Indonesia 9.3%.  (Starbiz 22.Sept.2012)

Growth:

• Managing director, Alfred Cheng is now spearheading the company's strategy to tap into Myanmar, which had just opened its door to foreign investors.  Currently, it plans to open a 40,000 sq ft departmental store in Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar, by next year. The population of Yangon accounts for 45% to 55% of the buying power of the entire country. (Starbiz 22.Sept.2012)
• At the same time, Parkson also charting a steady expansion-cum-branding drive in countries the company has presence in - China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and soon Cambodia. (Starbiz 22.Sept.2012)
• Experienced an influx of European brand enquiries seeking for exposure in the Asian market, it has also seen the emergence of Asian designer brands as well from Malaysian contemporary designers Key Ng and Melinda Looi. Meanwhile, in China, lingerie Aimer and sportswear Lining are making to other markets too by leveraging on Parkson. (Starbiz 22.Sept.2012)
• "Our plan has always been to open two local stores a year, two to three in Vietnam, four to five in Indonesia and eight to 10 in China," Cheng says.  (Starbiz 22.Sept.2012)
• "We are now testing our online site and expect to launch it sometime next month concurrently in both China and Malaysia for a start." "Today, a good e-commerce site for a departmental store does anywhere between 8% and 12% sales of the overall company. It is an important extension of operations and when you have more business virtually, it will spill over to the physical store too." Cheng says. (Starbiz 22.Sept.2012)

Risk:

• China economic growth slowdown

Competitors:

• Thailand's retail giant Central Retail Corp
• South Korea's Lotte Co Ltd