Malaysia's retail sector saw sluggish 3.1% Q3 sales growth 马零售调查行：今年零售业料增长6%

“The Ramadan month and Hari Raya during the third quarter did not lift the overall retail sales and only retailers selling festive goods enjoyed better sales,” said RGM managing director Tan Hai Hsin

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s retail industry recorded a sluggish sales growth of 3.1% in the third quarter of last year compared with 4.8% in 2012, according to a report by Retail Group Malaysia (RGM).

The drop was the lowest sales growth since the fourth quarter of 2009 when it went up by 3%.
“The Ramadan month and Hari Raya during the third quarter did not lift the overall retail sales and only retailers selling festive goods enjoyed better sales,” RGM managing director Tan Hai Hsin said in the latest Malaysia Retail Industry Report.

He also added that Bank Negara had implemented new policies on bank borrowing to control household debt in July 2013.

“Personal loans are available only for up to 10 years instead of 25 years, which should have affected sales of big-ticket items including furniture and electrical & electronics (E&E) goods.

“During this period, many retailers continued to offer steep discounts and very attractive offers to attract shoppers. Once again, their bottom line was severely affected,” he said.

Tan said the 3.1% growth in the third quarter of 2013 was 70% lower than the earlier 10.5% estimate by the Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA) retailers compiled in September last year, as well as 52% lower than the estimated 6.5% given by RGM in the same period.

Going forward, Tan said the MRA retailers expected a 4.2% increase in their businesses during the fourth quarter of 2013.

He said the expected slower growth in supermarket and hypermarket, furniture, E&E as well as personal care led to a lower overall estimate.

The department store cum supermarket operators expect to maintain their growth rate at 8.9% for the fourth quarter of 2013.

“Department store operators hope for a major turnaround with a positive growth of 9.4% for the last quarter of 2013.”

Tan said RGM was maintaining its 6% growth rate for the Malaysia retail industry in 2014 despite the “tsunami of price hikes” in recent months.

“A review on the growth rate will only be carried out after all the market changes have taken place. Cost of living of the average Malaysian has been rising since the last quarter of 2013 and the increment will be even more apparent in the first six months of this year.

Tan said Visit Malaysia Year 2014 would bring m many retailers continued to offer steep discounts any retailers continued to offer steep discounts more sales to retailers located in major city centres and popular tourist attractions in Malaysia.
















 马零售调查行：今年零售业料增长6%

      

（吉隆坡15日讯）今年百物价格料因电费、大道收费上扬等因素带动而纷纷攀升，但独立零售研究机构———马零售调查行（Retail Group Malaysia），则维持大马零售领域今年6%的增长率目标，比2013年4.9%的预测高。

马零售调查行今日发表最新调查结果，该调查行董事经理陈海信指出，尽管该机构目前为止仍维持上述增长预测，但市场情况一旦改变后，就有可能调整该项预测。

首半年生活成本剧增

据马零售调查行的调查结果，大马人平均生活成本，自去年最后一季就持续上扬，而今年首6个月内，生活成本的增幅会更加显著。

今年1月起，价格即将上涨的消费项目，包括电费上扬15%，和国内15条大道料今年内陆续上调过路费，幅度介于50仙至2令吉。

此外，天然气价格和公共交通包括巴士、德士、轻快铁和单轨火车等价格料上涨，将影响消费者的购物能力。

无论如何，陈海信指出，一个大马援助金（BRIM）今年2月开始发放，将惠及590万家庭和200万未婚单身青年，相信有助于支撑今年第一季的零售销量。

同时，今年是大马旅游年，各个主要城市和著名的旅游景点，肯定会吸引更多游客，料带动零售活动。

旅游部的目标是要吸引280万人次游客，带来高达760亿令吉的收入。

油价格去年9月上调，10月份白糖补贴取消，导致大部分零售商品和服务，包括日常必需品、食品等价格高涨。

悲观看待去年末季

因此，大马零售协会（MRA）会员对于去年最后一季的零售增长预测只有4.2%，较马零售调查行预测的5%更悲观。

大马零售协会会员中，超级和霸级市场的营运业者，对于近期业务展望最悲观，他们预测去年最后一季内，零售增长预测仅有2.4%。

基于上述因素，陈海信披露，马零售调查行也对2013年零售领域的预测，展开了3次调整。

去年9月份最后一次调整时，把原本6.2%的全年预测，下修至4.9%或等于全年增长921亿令吉。

去年第三季为止，大马零售领域的增长率仅达3.1%，表现呆滞，较大马零售协会早前预测的10.5%增长率低许多，同时也低于马零售调查行所预测的6.5%。