Mr. Yol Phokasub, Chief Executive Officer of Central Retail Corporation PCL (CRC), announced “Central Retail has achieved success hitting record-high in Q4/2021 performance, with a revenue of THB 58,765 million +15%. EBITDA THB 8,031 million +42% and a net profit of THB 2,464 million +124%. We ended 2021 on a high note with profit of THB 277 million. EBITDA THB 20,059 million and a total revenue of THB 195,654 million. Despite the ongoing challenges posed by the spread of COVID-19 for extended periods across Thailand, Vietnam and Italy, Central Retail achieved profitability and generated positive returns to shareholders, with dividend payment of THB 0.30 per share.
Thailand: Sales in 2021, excluding tourist spendings, returned higher than pre-pandemic levels. Accounting for this achievement is Central Retail’s Multi-Category Platform, providing portfolio flexibility and adaptability to changing customer needs. The focus in 2021 was the hardline segment, which aligns with consumer trends during the pandemic, enabling the segment to rapidly grow and drive sales to levels higher than the pre-pandemic era by 26%. The company launched 5 new Thai Watsadu branches and new store formats under go! WOW banner of total 15 branches within three months in 2021, of which was positively received by customers, underlining the company’s leadership position in Omnichannel Home Improvement Platform. Additionally, Central Retail successfully acquired COL, including OfficeMate and B2S, and is prepared to list MEB, the leader in the e-book business and novel website for Thais, in the stock exchange of Thailand in 2022. For the food segment, Central Retail maintains its #1 position as The Best Food Destination in Thailand, driving business expansion in 2021 by opening 46 branches to reinforce its leadership position in the category. Tops Supermarket also received the Top Influential Brands award from Influential Brand Singapore and Neo Target, a leader in corporate reputation consultancy in Thailand. The company also implemented fixed prices of consumer goods from the end of last year until the first quarter of this year to alleviate financial burdens of consumers during turbulent times. For the fashion segment, the company drove the highest levels of growth in the fourth quarter when compared to previous quarters in the last two years and the segment is still strong in momentum.
Vietnam: Despite the impact from COVID-19, Central Retail charged ahead with investment plans, including renovations and business expansion to strengthen its leadership in the hypermarket and lifestyle mall segment across urban and rural areas. The company also expanded into the food segment by launching new store format mini go! that targets mass consumers, as well as Tops Market to serve every customer segment in Vietnam. Although Vietnam faced a difficult situation during the pandemic that forced stores to close during the second and third quarters, our sales grew by 8% higher than 2019 whilst EBITDA grew 9% compared to the previous year.
Italy: Central Retail initiated renovations of Rinascente across 3 flagship stores, including Milan, Florence and Rome. The renovations took place during the lockdown in Italy and were completed in time for the border reopening in mid-2021, which has successfully attracted a growing number of customers, resulting in strong business growth. The spending power from domestic customers along with the return of European tourists boosted sales growth in the fourth quarter, matching 99% of sales during the pre-pandemic era. The company’s annual sales in Italy saw a strong growth of 30% compared to the previous year and has achieved a fourfold increase in EBITDA compared to the year before.
Property: Renovated and launched new branches across Thailand and Vietnam, including the opening of GO! lifestyle mall in Vietnam and Robinson Lifestyle in Thailand, totaling 6 branches. Robinson Lifestyle maintained an occupancy rate of over 90% and the number of customers has been increasing consistently. By the end of 2021, Central Retail has a total of 69 branches across Robinson Lifestyle, Tops Plaza and GO! lifestyle malls with total net leasable space over 650,000 square metres, a 10% increase from the previous year.
Technology and Digital: Central Retail enhanced technology integration across the organisation and its people by adopting a digital-first culture and building on the most comprehensive omnichannel platforms, securing Central Retail’s unique leadership in omnichannel retailing. These efforts resulted in omnichannel sales accounting for 20% of total sales, and a 109% growth. The company also built on the CRC Data Ecosystem and developed new techn