The expansion plans in Thailand and Vietnam will raise the revenue of Central Group, Big C’s parent company, by 14 per cent this year.

Central Group, the largest retailer of Thailand, intends to invest an additional $1.5 billion to open new stores in Thailand and Vietnam in 2018 to raise revenue by 14 per cent.

By 2022, the group aims to operate over 7,500 stores in Thailand from the current 4,970 and open 500 new stores to reach around 750 in Vietnam.

Central Group operates in Europe and Vietnam and expects to open stores in Malaysia in the fourth quarter of this year.

“In 2017, 72 per cent of the group’s total revenue came from Thailand, 15 per cent from Europe, and 13 per cent from Vietnam. The ratio is expected to be the same this year,” CEO Tos Chirativat revealed.

Earlier, in April 2016, Central Group announced acquiring Vietnam’s Big C supermarkets from Casino Group (France) at the price of EUR920 million ($1.05 billion). Additionally, this giant also owns 49 per cent of Nguyen Kim electronics supermarkets, 49 per cent of Lan Chi Mart, and is co-owner with Nguyen Kim of e-commerce company Zalora.

Chairman of Central Group, Yol Phokasub, also revealed that the company will establish a $500-million consortium with JD.com, the second biggest e-commerce company of China, in the second quarter of this year, as digital platforms are playing an important role in Central Group’s operations. The group will collaborate with JD.com to sell Thai goods in China.

VIR