Sunway Malls & Theme parks CEO HC Chan
KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Malls beat expectations after registering 19% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in the first quarter of 2023 on the back of a stronger festive quarter and healthy demand for out-of-home dining.
In a statement, the mall group operator, which operates seven physical malls and one digital mall, said it recorded sales growth of 12% in January, 25% in February and 25% in March respectively.
The positive performance, it said, was largely driven by high growth from the travel-related, entertainment, fashion, beauty, F&B, health & personal care categories.
The travel-related category, which was the most improved of the retail categories after sales surged 178%, was boosted by pent-up demand and an uptick in travel.
Entertainment, meanwhile, was up 52% during the quarter while beauty, health and personal care rose 21% and fashion grew 94%.
In addition, family dining rose 40% due to demand for out-of-home and premium dining, while casual dining grew 20%.
“There has been a breakthrough as the F&B category now emerges as one of the Top 20 sale categories in Sunway Malls, which was previously dominated by non-F&B categories,” said Sunway Malls & Theme parks CEO HC Chan.
He said this was in tandem with the growing dominance of F&B categories in recent times whereby it occupies 25% to 30% of the total nettable area.
This trend is expected to move further heading to 35% to 40% in the near future, he said.
Chan said the mall group operator remains optimistic given its proven track record, strong branding and network of retail partners, despite prevailing headwinds.
He added that Sunway Mall will undergo an 800,000 sq ft retail space asset enhancement initiative exercise in Sunway Pyramid and Sunway Carnival, and announced plans to build a mall with one million sq ft retail space in Sunway City Ipoh, scheduled for completion in 2025.
