KUALA LUMPUR: Integrated jewellery manufacturer and retailer Tomei Consolidated Bhd is still cautious in setting a target for the 2022 financial year on concerns over market sentiment due to the ongoing uncertainties.
However, managing director Datuk Ng Yih Pyng said the group hopes to improve its performance to lift the company’s profitability.
“Although the group was not directly impacted by foreign labour cost, we believe it would affect our sales and overall performance (indirectly).
“We are still cautious (in setting a target) because of the (higher) staff cost, foreign labour cost and external factors like the war in Ukraine and the US dollar performance,” he said after the group’s AGM yesterday.
As such, Ng said the group needs to provide better in-store and after-sales services, as well as embark on creative marketing to attract customers to ensure that Tomei continues to be their choice. As all jewellers are selling similar products, he said Tomei has to come out with more fashionable and unique jewellery designs while improving their quality for customer satisfaction.
Tomei jewellery shop
On the company’s expansion plan, he said Tomei plans to open at least three new stores in the country by end-2022, after opening two new stores, one each in Langkawi, Kedah and Tunjung in Kelantan early this year.
“We plan to open two or three more stores in Malaysia by year-end. However, we have not decided on the locations yet,” he said, adding that the company is considering the East Coast where it has yet to have any outlets.
“We might also relocate a few stores based on their performance for future growth. Actually, we don’t set a target on store expansion but if there is an opportunity, we will open (new ones),” he said.
He added that the average cost of opening a new store would be RM5mil. Tomei currently has a total of 57 stores nationwide.
Meanwhile, Tomei announced it achieved a net profit of RM15.77mil for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, up 15% from RM13.76mil a year ago due to better gross profit margin. However, revenue fell by 4% to RM234.15mil from RM244.16mil previously, mainly due to the lower revenue from its manufacturing and wholesales segment, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.