Business

Tuesday January 16, 2007

Poh Kong targets 8% sales growth

By Loong Tse Min



PETALING JAYA: Poh Kong Holdings Bhd is targeting 8% sales growth this year, driven mainly by a boom in the retail sector, said executive director Ermin Siow.

“We are hoping for 8% in additional sales this year in tandem with the Government's forecast of 8% growth in the retail sector in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007,” he told reporters after the company AGM yesterday.

Poh Kong has been on an expansion drive, having opened five new outlets since the end of July 2006.

The outlets are at Carrefour in Kepong; Souq Al-Bukhary Commercial Centre, Alor Star; Jusco, Balakong and two outlets at Queensbay Mall, Penang. Each outletcosts an average of RM3mil each.

Siow expects the new outlets to start contributing positively to earnings in two years.

Poh Kong, he said, was also planning to expand its franchise programme.

Poh Kong's executive chairman and MD Datuk Eddie Choon Yee Seiong and Ermin Siow
“We are looking at licensing more outlets in Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu, where a franchisee would have better understanding of the local market and a better network than we can achieve,” he added.

Siow told StarBiz the company had initiated preliminary discussions with two potential franchisees, one each in Sarawak and Terengganu.

Poh Kong's first, and currently only franchise outlet, was opened in its fiscal year ended July 31, 2006 (FY2006) at Kompleks Karamunsing in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Including the five new outlets, Poh Kong has 72 retail outlets nationwide.

On rising gold prices, Siow said the uptrend had boosted sales as there was stronger demand for the metal as an investment asset.

For its first quarter ended Oct 31, 2006, the company posted a 33.6% growth in net profit to RM7.9mil on revenue of RM111.6mil compared with the same quarter a year earlier.

For FY2006, it reported a 58.2% growth in net profit to RM26.1mil on revenue of RM372.1mil.


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