ACES set to open 15 new stores this year

ACE Hardware's LogoPublicly listed home improvement retailer PT Ace Hardware Indonesia (ACES) plans to open between 10 and 15 new stores this year to help the company meet its higher revenue target, the company’s corporate secretary, Helen Tanzil, said.

“A store with an area of 2,500 square meters would require about Rp 10 billion. We will use capital of Rp 150 billion [US$16 million],” Helen said, adding that the company would use internal funds amounting to Rp 150 billion ($16 million) to finance the establishment of the new stores.

According to Helen, most of the new stores will be located in Jakarta and other major cities in Java.

“Only about one-third of new stores to be opened this year will be located outside Java, such as in Balikpapan, Makassar and Manado,” Helen said.

Currently, the company has 56 stores nationwide. According to a file the company submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), the 56th store, occupying an area of 1,100 square meters in Denpasar, Bali, was opened on Wednesday. The Denpasar store needed Rp 5 billion in investment.

The company will open the 57th store, occupying an area of 2,800 square meters, in Serpong, South Tangerang, on Feb. 25. The company has spent Rp 10 billion to establish the store.

Earlier this year, the company already opened two stores in Depok with an investment of about Rp 8 billion and in Ban-dung with an investment of around Rp 5 billion.

The new stores are expected to boost the company’s revenue. Helen said that ACES targeted a 25 percent increase in revenue this year to around Rp 3 trillion from an estimated revenue of Rp 2.4 trillion in 2011.

“The net profit will be about 10 percent of the revenue or about Rp 300 billion this year,” she said.

Besides the new stores, the company will also launch promotion programs to introduce its new products, according to Helen.

ACES, which is owned by Kuncoro Wibowo, the 34th richest person in Indonesia according to Forbes, has yet
to announce its financial report of 2011.

ACES, which was established in 1995, is the master franchise-license holder in Indonesia from Ace Hardware Corporation US. ACES has been listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 2007.

Shares in ACES closed at Rp 4,425 apiece, increasing by 1.72 percent from Rp 4,350 a day earlier.