Matahari plans to open four new outlets

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk plans to open four new outlets this year in response to growth in the country's retail sector.

Company president Antonius Hanifah Komala said on Thursday three of the outlets would be opened in Pontianak, Madiun and Lampung.

"We have allocated about Rp 80 billion (US$7.3 million) for the expansion," he said following the reopening of the Matahari outlet in Mega Mall Pluit.

Each of the new outlets will have about 7,000 square meters of floor space and will use the under-one-roof retail concept, in which the department store and supermarket will be located in the same building, he said.

Komala estimated the new outlets could reach the break-even point in five years.

Matahari introduced the under-one-roof retail concept in 1999, but not all of its outlets have adopted the concept.

To date, Matahari operates 78 outlets in 35 cities throughout the country, with 27 of the outlets located in Jakarta.

Komala said opening the new outlets would help Matahari meet its target of increasing its sales 25 percent to Rp 5 trillion this year from about Rp 4 trillion in 2000.

He estimated the company's operating profit would be about 7 percent of total sales.

"We are optimistic we will achieve our target as our sales in the first quarter have met our predictions," he said, though he declined to provide the exact sales figures.

Komala said Matahari had approximately 10 million customers, about 70 percent of whom were middle and upper-income people who accounted for some 90 percent of the company's total revenue.

At the reopening of the Mega Mall Pluit outlet, the company's senior vice president, Rendi Parengkuan, said Matahari spent about Rp 20 billion to renovate the outlet.

The outlet is located in the space of the former Mega M department store and has been under renovation since February.

He said the upgraded outlet included 4,000 square meters of floor space for its supermarket and 8,000 square meters for the department store.

Sales from the outlet are expected to reach Rp 150 billion this year, he said. (05)