KUALA LUMPUR: Aeon Co (M) Bhd does not have plans to open new malls for the time being in view of the challenging market sentiment, according to executive director Poh Ying Loo.
With that, the group has allocated less than RM500 million for capital expenditure (capex) for this year.
“We usually allocate RM600 million to RM700 million for new malls, however we are only opening one mall this year, which is Aeon Mall Nilai. We have also refurbished and reopened the Aeon Taman Maluri Shopping Centre,“ he said after the group’s AGM today.
The capex will also be utilised for the refurbishment of the group’s existing branches.
Meanwhile, Aeon managing director Shinobu Washizawa said the group has identified e-commerce as one of the growth areas.
Aeon has established a partnership with Honestbee and HappyFresh as its digital platform partners providing online concierge and delivery service.
“As of now, we have 15 outlets that are participating in the e-commerce segment and we are planning to roll out to more this year.”
He hinted that it will engage with more digital platform partners to cater to its e-commerce needs. However, Aeon has no plans to start its own e-commerce cum logistics business.
The group is cautiously optimistic on its outlook this year as tough price competition has taken the center stage in its operation.
Following the move to absorb the 6% cost increases from the implementation of the sales and service tax, Shinobu said Aeon has made an effort to cut down its operation cost.
The group has also seen higher contribution from its delicatessen segment, which accounted for 50% of total sales last year from 30% previously.
Aeon will allocate more floor space for the delicatessen and ready-to-eat segments in its refurbished outlets.
Separately, Aeon announced a 16.8% rise in net profit to RM32.64 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 against RM27.94 million in the previous corresponding period, with revenue increasing 8.3% to RM1.21 billion from RM1.11 billion.
