KUALA LUMPUR: Sports equipment and apparels chain store operator, Al-Ikhsan Sports Sdn Bhd (Al-Ikhsan), is targeting between 15 per cent and 18 per cent annual sales growth under its three-year strategic expansion plan that starts this year.
Chief executive officer Vach Pillutla said sales grew by 17.9 per cent to RM330 million last year from RM280 million achieved in 2018.
Despite a stagnant growth in the global retail market, he expressed confidence that Al-Ikhsan would continue to record double-digit growth backed by its affordable prices, the opening of more stores, and the introduction of new segmented concepts as well as a new website.
“Our commitment is to keep Malaysia fit and active by making sports affordable for all.
“We intend to open up to 14 stores annually in Peninsular Malaysia with concepts such as Football Republic and Sneakers Street, depending on the market and catchment to match consumer demand,” he said during an interview with selected media here recently.
Pillutla said Al-Ikhsan would launch a new e-commerce platform by end-February to offer a more convenient online shopping experience to customers in Malaysia and from overseas.
He said the new platform would contribute five per cent to total sales over a period of three years.
Established in 1993 by founder Ali Hassan Mohd Hassan, Al-Ikhsan is currently the 64th largest sports retailer in the world with 130 stores in Peninsular Malaysia.
The company is partly owned by Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) after the government-linked private equity firm acquired a 35 per cent stake in Al-Ikhsan in July 2016 for RM68.6 million.
Ali Hassan said the strategic partnership formed with Ekuinas had enabled Al-Ikhsan to become more competitive in the retail market, with a better inventory software system and operations management support.
“Ekuinas has helped us (Al-Ikhsan) to find new team members while consolidating our stores and improving the back-end processes.
“Ekuinas has done a professional job for us in setting up a strong foundation since our partnership began in 2017,” he said, adding that the company had no plan for any new partnership.
Meanwhile, Ekuinas chief executive officer Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said providing a strong foundation was the main business plan to further grow Al-Ikhsan, resulting in a strong 30 per cent market share in the multi-retailer segment.
He said Ekuinas had achieved more than break-even on its investment in Al-Ikhsan, since both companies began their partnership.
“From Ekuinas’ perspective, Al-Ikhsan has strong liquidity and sufficient cashflow to grow, with good inventory management.
“Hence, the company does not require additional capital injection to expand further,” he said, adding that Ekuinas was exploring all possible options to further grow Al-Ikhsan including a listing exercise.
Al-Ikhsan currently has about 30 active brands under its umbrella including Adidas, Nike and Puma. -Bernama
