A Central department store.
Thailand’s retail giant Central Retail Corp. (CRC)—the flagship unit of billionaire Chirathivat family’s Central Group—has earmarked as much as 47 billion baht ($1.4 billion) to expand and upgrade its stores in Thailand and Vietnam to boost the company’s earnings.
Under the three-year expansion plan through 2027, Central Retail plans to open between 57 to 72 new stores in various formats and renovate as many as 41 existing stores.
CRC—which operates 1,889 stores in Thailand, 131 in Vietnam and nine in Italy—hopes the expansion would help boost EBITDA and revenue by 5% annually until 2027. In 2024, its EBITDA rose 6% to 34.4 billion baht as revenue climbed 5.7% to 262.8 billion baht.
“CRC is likely to deliver moderate medium-term earnings growth based on its ongoing expansion and synergy benefits,” Suttatip Peerasub, an analyst at Maybank Securities (Thailand) said in a report released on Wednesday. “However, CRC’s near-term outlook remains challenging amid weak consumption.”
Amid a global economic slowdown, Central Retail plans to improve its operations by leveraging AI technology to provide consumers a seamless omnichannel shopping experience across its physical and online stores. At the same time, the company also aims to strengthen its loyalty program, which now boasts over 26 million members.
“With a clear and effective strategy in place, Central Retail is committed to driving stable and strong business growth across all dimensions over the 2025-2027 period,” newly-appointed Central Retail CEO Suthisarn Chirathivat said in a statement on Tuesday.
Central Retail’s expansion dovetails with the 120-billion-baht five-year investment plan announced by Central Pattana, a listed developer under Central Group, in March to build new office buildings and shopping malls. Central Group—which also holds interest in British retailer Selfridges—is led by Tos Chirathivat, grandson of the group’s founder, Tiang Chirathivat. With a net worth of $9.9 billion, the Chirathivat family ranked No. 4 when Forbes Asia published the list of Thailand’s 50 Richest in July 2024.