Global House sets Q4 timeline for expansion in Cambodia

Thai home improvement retailer Siam Global House has set the opening of its second branch in Cambodia for the fourth quarter of this year even as it pushed back the opening of new stores in other countries around Southeast Asia where the company has a presence.

The move comes after Thailand’s second largest home improvement company reeled from dismal first half results, when consolidated revenues fell 7.51 per cent owing to flagging comparative sales.

In a presentation during its analysts’ and investors’ briefing last 8 August, Global House indicated that the second branch in Cambodia, which will be located in Battambang -- the country’s second largest city and home to ancient temples and Buddhist shrines --  is undergoing construction works in preparation for its opening.

The branch comes five years after Global House opened its maiden outlet in Phnom Penh, which sits on a seven-hectare property, and has a selling area of 14,000 sqm.

Global House operates in the neighbouring market through Global House Cambodia, a subsidiary which is 55-per cent owned by the Thai firm. It is Global House’s second biggest market after Thailand, although its contribution is minimal. In the first half of 2023, the lone outlet in the market contributed 1.6 per cent of the total revenues of the company.

Information from the presentation likewise indicates that Global House has pushed back the opening of the first Global House store in the Philippines. Based on the data, the schedule to open the inaugural outlet in the country was moved to the fourth quarter of next year from the earlier target of the first quarter of 2024.

Global House formed a joint venture with the Cosco Group, the Philippines' top supermarket chain, to gain a foothold in the country of 110 million people. Global House Philippines, the resulting entity, is 55-per cent owned by the Thai company. Currently, two branches outside Metro Manila -- one, with a land size of 24,500 sqm and located north of the capital region, and another, which sits on 18,500 sqm of land south of it -- are being built. It is not clear which of the two will be the initial outlet in the country.

The opening of the eighth Souvanny Home Center outlet in Laos has also been postponed to the first quarter of 2024 from earlier plans to get it onstream by the last quarter of this year. Consequently, the schedule to open four outlets in the country has been moved to 2024 to 2026, instead of 2023 to 2025 as earlier planned.

Holding firm Global House…