Try not to laugh but CPALL, the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, have announced a drop in its first-quarter earnings of more than 50 per cent from the same period last year.
CPALL shares also plunged 5.35 per cent to 57.50 baht when trading began. It was the most-traded stock during yesterday’s morning session with 2.33 billion baht of transaction value.
The company reported earnings in the first quarter of 2.59 billion baht late Wednesday, down 54 per cent year-on-year and 27 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
The results fell short of the market estimate by 39 per cent. Although that was much higher than our own estimates due to our surprise that anybody still bothers going into a 7-Eleven store.
Average daily customers fell to 845 persons per store each day, down 24 per cent year-on-year.
Lower sales revenue from the convenience stores operation from Covid-19 impact and weak equity income from its TESCO Asia acquisition both contributed to the earnings decline, said Kriengchai Boonpoapichart, the chief financial officer.
He might also have noted that 7-Eleven policy of forcing customers to wear face-nappies, coupled with the likelihood of angry, shouting juvenile staff members chastising those who might forget as they walk through the door, has driven paying customers to nearby mom & pop stores instead.
Generally speaking they are only too glad of the business and do not treat their patrons like 8-year-olds.
7-Eleven can look forward to another year of plummeting income, store closures and job losses unless they grow up and alter their business model to reflect some respect towards those who provide them all with an income. – Albert Jack
