Central Pattana upbeat on retail sector here

REGIONAL EXPANSION: Thai developer sees Malaysia as key growth driver



Central Pattana pcl (CPN), Thailand’s largest retail developer, sees
Malaysia as its key growth driver in the region as the group plans to
leverage on the single Asean market initiative.

CPN, with a cash
reserve of nearly four billion baht (about RM406 million) as at
end-2012, earns most from businesses in Thailand.

A subsidiary of
conglomerate Central Group of Companies, the company plans to replicate
Central Group founder Tiang Chirathivat’s success in Thailand here.

CPN chief executive officer (CEO) Kobchai Chirathivat said Malaysia, which is
on track to achieve gross domestic product growth of five to six per
cent this year, offers a lot of opportunities for the setting up of
malls.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

“We understand Malaysia has a lot of space for more malls, hence we want
to replicate some of our projects in Thailand here. When
we build the malls, the concept will be unique in nature,” Kobchai told Business Times in an interview last week.

Central
Group is owned by the Chirathivat family, Thailand’s second wealthiest,
with a net worth of US$6.9 billion (RM20.8 billion), according to
Forbes magazine.

CPN’s plan to venture into Malaysia comes at a time when the company is growing at a rate of 30 per cent a year.

It is understood the company has set aside a war chest of US$324 million a year to build more malls.

It
currently holds the biggest share of Bangkok’s retail market, at 24 per
cent. It manages 21 malls, seven office buildings, two hotels and two
residential towers, all spanning over two
million square metres.

Last year, CPN’s revenue stood at 17.69 billion baht, a jump by a third from 12.77 billion baht in 2011.

The
company will pour in some cash to help build a 1.5-million sq ft mall
at i-City in Shah Alam, in a joint venture with I-Berhad.

The
mall is estimated to cost US$200 million and will be partly funded by
I-Berhad, the master developer and project owner of i-City.

Tiang, an immigrant from China, started a general merchandise store in 1947 in the Samphanthawong district, Bangkok’s Chinatown.

The
store eventually evolved into a giant family-owned corporation with
interests in mercantile, real estate, retailing, hospitality and
restaurant businesses in Thailand.

[email=By%20Sharen%20Kaur]By Sharen Kaur[/email]