CP All sets Bt15 bn to expand 7-Eleven and Makro networks

About Bt9 billion will be allocated to the opening of 600 7-Eleven stores and between Bt5 billion and Bt6 billion will be for the opening of arond 10 Makro outlets.

The store openings will be focused on upcountry provinces, rather than in and around Bangkok.

CP All targets revenue growth of around 10 per cent this year, Kriengchai Boonpoapichart, the company’s vice president and head of finance and investor relations, said yesterday.

CP All owns and operates the country’s largest convenience-store network, 7-Eleven, and is also the owner of Siam Makro, the largest cash-and-carry retailer, which it took over in 2013.

The company operates more than 8,200 7-Eleven stores throughout the Kingdom, as well as about 77 Makro wholesale centres.

Kriengchai said the retail sector was expected to expand this year, given the many forecasts of growth in the country’s gross domestic product.

In general, the sector expands at the same rate as GDP through to two times higher.

CP All, which is controlled by Charoen Pokphand Group, yesterday also announced a plan to issue debentures worth Bt18 billion next month, with the proceeds to be used for loan repayment and to reduce interest expenses.

The offer comprises two- and five-year senior unsecured debentures, with bondholders’ representative coupon rates of 3.55 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.

"The issue of debentures will help the company to manage its financial costs better and to repay lending incurred by the acquisition of Siam Makro," said the vice president.

Subscription for the public offering will open at branches of the joint lead arrangers from March 16 to 19. The joint lead arrangers are Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Siam Commercial Bank, Thanachart Bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai), and Phatra Securities.

The company has issued four tranches of debentures in the past two years, with overwhelming interest from both institutional and retail investors in each of these offerings, said Korsak Chairasmisak, chairman of CP All’s executive committee.

Kriengchai added that after the first year following the issuance of the five-year debentures, CP All would have a call option on the whole or part of the tenor to enable flexibility in future financing.

The public offering will have a minimum subscription of Bt100,000, with increases being in multiples of Bt100,000.

Fitch Rating (Thailand) has a strong "A+(tha)" credit rating on CP All.

According to CP All’s recent filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, overall revenue for last year was Bt371.3 billion, a 30-per-cent increase from the Bt284.6 billion posted for 2013.