Major looks to region via JVs
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Major Cineplex Group will set up a joint venture with a foreign entertainment company with a view to strategic regional expansion ahead of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which comes into effect in 2015.
The initial focus will be on Indochinese countries.
Chairman Vicha Poolvaraluck yesterday said the multiplex-chain operator would soon organise a press conference about the overseas expansion, which forms part of its global strategy. It marks a significant transition for the company, which will be moving from a local cinema operator into a regional and global business, he said.
“We will invest between Bt100 million and Bt120 million next year in the opening of our first multiplex theatre in Cambodia. It will have seven or eight screens,” said Vicha.
“Thailand is located at the centre of AEC markets, and most big businesses in the Kingdom cannot escape from expanding into potential markets in Asean, and particularly Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam,” he said.
“In addition to Cambodia … the company is also in discussion with a potential partner to invest and expand into other markets, including Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which are our priorities,” he added.
Major Cineplex Group, which operates 435 screens in 61 locations throughout Thailand, this Thursday will open its 62th multiplex cinema, in Sakon Nakhon province. “We expect our number of screens to reach 500 this year,” said the chairman.
The company will also invest between Bt150 million and Bt200 million in a new 100-lane bowling alley in India.
Vicha said the company had set aside about Bt1 billion in capital expenditure for next year, of which 20 per cent is for overseas expansion, mainly for the new projects in Cambodia and India.
“We expect the overseas contribution to surge from currently less than 5 per cent of our revenue to about 10 per cent by 2015,” he said.
For Thailand, the company expects ticket sales to rise by between 25 and 30 per cent this year.
The company, which achieved total revenue of about Bt8 billion last year, also expects annual growth of between 10 and 15 per cent by 2015.
“We still see great potential in the domestic market,” said Vicha.
“There are about 800 cinema screens in Thailand, while in South Korea, the number of screens is as high as 2,000. Thailand can sell less than 50 million movie tickets annually, while in South Korea, the number sold is 200 million. There is more room for the theatre industry in Thailand to grow in the next five to seven years.”
Thai cinemas will become digital-based, he said, adding, “We plan to open about 100 theatre screens this year, of which between 80 and 90 per cent will be upcountry. We also plan to open about 50 new screens next year, of which 60 per cent will be upcountry.”
Meanwhile, Major Cineplex yesterday announced an alliance with PTT Group for the launch of 100-per-cent biodegradable popcorn buckets.
