KUALA LUMPUR: AEON Co (M) Bhd is allocating up to RM400 million in capital expenditure (capex) this year, slightly lower than RM500 million last year, said executive director Poh Ying Loo.
“We are consolidating and slowing down our development portfolio (since the last two years).
“We normally open two malls (a year) but now only one mall, so the total spending is actually lower,” he told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting yesterday.
Poh said the capex would be utilised to refurbish three AEON stores in Bandar Utama and Bandar Sunway, both in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and Tebrau City (Johor Bahru); expand Taman Maluri Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur; build a new mall in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, and others.
The AEON Mall in Nilai, which is currently under construction, is targeted to open in the first quarter of next year.
The Japanese retailer company currently has 35 stores and 27 malls throughout Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Poh said the company was set to launch a groceries drive-thru service, a value-added feature to its existing e-commerce business, to strengthen its omni-channel strategy. The new service, to be rolled out at AEON Bukit Indah, Johor next month, would enable the customers to buy groceries online and pick them up at the drive-thru window, he said.
Commenting on whether the abolishment of the Goods and Services Tax would push prices down, Poh said this was among the questions posed by shareholders earlier but it was too early to decide right now.
“We understand that other policies and tax regime such as the Sales and Services Tax will be reintroduced. We can’t really comment on whether or not our pricing would be cheaper until those things are clearer,” he added. — Bernama