Singapore’s Sheng Siong plans 25 more stores during next five years

Singapore’s supermarket chain Sheng Siong aims to open three to five new outlets every year in the country in the near term, the company said in a bourse filing today (Apr 20). The near term plan will be within the next three to five years, and this adds up to 25 stores by the fifth year, as part of the supermarket chain’s plans to expand its footprint in the country.

Sheng Siong said it will continue to look out for retail spaces in new and existing public housing estates, particularly in areas where it does not have a presence.

A check online shows the chain having 65 outlets across Singapore, with 14 outlets in the Northeast, 17 outlets in the West, 12 outlets in the North, 11 outlets in Central, and 11 outlets in the East.

With a projected 25 more outlets, this will bring Sheng Siong’s total number of outlets to 90.

According to competitor NTUC Fairprice’s website, the chain has 230 outlets in Singapore. Fairprice claims that it’s the country’s largest retailer. It counts brands like FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, and Cheers as its outlets. There are 100 FairPrice supermarkets islandwide.

Sheng Siong will also continue to build on its e-commerce capability to extend its reach to customers in areas where it does not have a physical presence.

There are also plans to expand into China although it didn’t lay out the specifics. The company is currently operating four supermarkets in Kunming, China, which continue to be profitable.

The supermarket chain’s latest financial results showed a 6.4 percent increase in revenue for the second half of the financial year 2021, at S$688.1 million. That’s thanks to the opening of three new stores in Singapore in the same period.

Net profit for the full year eased 4.2 percent to S$132.8 million, due to a high base in the previous year.

Sheng Siong expects pandemic-induced demand to taper as consumers loosen their purse strings on discretionary items like social activities and travel.

“We should build a ‘war-chest’ ready on hand and preferred to conserve cash rather than gear up when the need arises,” it said.

The company made news last year when it rewarded staff with up to 16 months of bonus after the “tremendous” performance in 2020.

Internal memos seen by news agencies showed that some of the amount, as well as monthly bonus were distributed in 2020.

The good performance reflected how well supermarkets perform