AEON to expand to east M’sia

By Star Online: Business
25 May 2012

KUALA LUMPUR: AEON Co (M) Bhd is set to mark its presence in East Malaysia in three years time.

“We are at the advanced stage of our research on the market there and have identified several sites for this purpose,” said chairman Datuk Abdullah Mohd Yusof.

The company, which operates 25 Jusco stores and four MaxValu supermarkets nationwide has also set its eyes on the East Coast, where it plans to have a presence over the next three to five years he said after a shareholders’ meeting here yesterday.

Abdullah said AEON was targeting to grow “more than” the 4.4% same-stores-growth it registered last year helped by the opening of new stores.

AEON will open its 26th store in Sri Manjung, Perak by the end of this year.

It has allocated about RM350mil this year for the opening of new stores and the refurbishment of existing ones.

“Our growth will be organically driven for now,” said Abdullah.

He also said the company had no plans to set up a real estate investment trust for the moment.

AEON Malaysia is the largest contributor to its parent Japan-based Aeon Japan Ltd’s revenue outside of Japan.

For the first quarter ended March 31, AEON posted a net profit of RM37.6mil on revenue of RM779.4mil.

[Source]