Suiwah banks on property
Supermarket operator eyes double-digit growth on the back of real estate
GEORGE TOWN: The property division of Suiwah Corp Bhd, a supermarket operator, will play a key role in driving the company’s strategy to achieve double-digit percentage growth over the next five years.
Group executive director Cynthia Hwang told StarBiz that the RM1bil Sunshine Central, a mixed-development project that would feature a shopping mall with a net lettable area of 850,000 sq ft, was expected to contribute to the company’s revenue in double-digit percentage figures in the near future.
Sunshine Central, currently being constructed in Bandar Baru Air Itam or popularly known as Farlim, will be completed in 2019.
“It will be a tenant-mixed controlled shopping mall that will provide steady recurring income for thecompany.
“Innovation is the driving force behind everything we planned for Sunshine Central.
“Accelerating this transformation idea, Sunshine Central offers Internet of things (IoT) enables operational system that aimed to provide the best experiences for the residents, tenants and shoppers to uncover new business insights and greater performance.
“We will outsource the IT infrastructure work of the smart mall to local IT companies to create economic spillover effects for the local IT industry,” she said.
Sunshine Central will also have a hotel, 270 apartments together with an office block and a hypermarket name.
Hwang added that the company had completed the works for the retaining structure of the basement.
On new products, Hwang under the Sunshine said brand Suiwah would soon introduce a stand alone natural and organic food and skin care wholesale and retail store for Sunshine Square Bayan Baru.
“The natural and organic food products, sourced from all over the world, are highly sought in the local market.
“The other business that we will be focusing on expanding in 2018 is our online shopping business.
“We will work with logistics company to extend our delivery services to the mainland,” she added.
Hwang said the company would also focus on initiating a business-to-business (B2B) online platform after February 2018.
“This is to complement the existing online shopping business for our customers, which is rapidly growing.
“The B2B online platform will enable our suppliers to source from us also.
“Our goal is to deliver a relevant, personalised and seamless shopping experience across all channels.
“We have made great progress and are well-positioned for future intersection with digital retail,” she added.
Hwang said there was a need for fresh products and new shopping concepts to drive business growth, as the retail industry had become increasingly challenging.
“The Retail Group Malaysia has revised its annual growth forecast downwards from 3.9% to 3.7% for Malaysia’s retail industry in 2017.
“The total sales turnover for the industry in 2017 is expected to be around RM101.4bil,” she added.
According to a recent Nielsen Malaysia report, the consumer confidence level for Malaysia this second quarter has shown a positive improvement, the highest increase across all South-East Asian countries, and is now at its highest level since the first quarter of 2015.
“This upward shift in sentiment is likely a result of the improvement in the key economic indicators, a stabilising currency and no major shocks in the system.
“However, while the index remains marginally below the neutral level, we see that any increase in consumer spending towards the second half of the year will be driven by continued positive economic news and price stability,” said Nielsen Malaysia managing director Richard Hall.
The report also said the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector registered a drop of 2.2% for year-to-date June 2017 but saw a recovery in the second quarter where the market was flat at just a 0.2% decline as compared to the same quarter in the year before.
“Four in six of the FMCG super categories recorded positive growth in Q2 2017 with health and wellness (10.4%) registering double-digit growth followed by snack and confectionery (5.5%), personal care (3.9%) and household (0.9%).
“On the contrary, both the beverage (-5.3%) and grocery (-1.2%) super categories slipped slightly compared with the same period prior year,” the report said.