Retailer Owned By Lippo Group, Hypermart Loses Rp219.25 Billion And Closes 8 Stores Due To COVID-19

JAKARTA - The retailer owned by Lippo Group, PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk, suffered a significant loss in the second quarter of 2020. The company, which owns the Hypermart, Hyfresh and Foodmart retail chains, stated that the loss was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the second quarter of 2020, the company's sales decreased from Rp4.6 trillion in the second quarter of 2019 to Rp3.6 trillion in the second quarter of 2020. As a result, the company suffered a loss of Rp.219.25 billion during the second quarter of 2020.

PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk Corporate Secretary, Danny Kojongian in a virtual press conference, Friday, October 16 explained, at the beginning when the COVID-19 case was first announced, the company's sales actually increased 14 percent compared to the previous month.

Such an increase occurred on March 13-25, 2020. According to him, during that period the people were doing panic buying , to meet their basic daily needs.

"But not long after, it immediately dropped dramatically because the mall was closed, Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) and so on," said Danny.

According to Danny, the issuer with the MMPA stock code, according to Danny, is implementing a strategy through online sales. They sell their merchandise through Hypermart Online, Chat & Shop via WhatsApp, GrabMart and Shopee.

However, said Danny, it is too helpful. Because the majority of people still like to shop offline , "he added.

Furthermore, the company also reportedly temporarily closed its chain of stores in Bali and Jambi. This was done in order to reduce the potential for greater losses.

Matahari Putra Prima Director Herry Senjaya explained that his party was trying to comb the chain of shops that were badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the shops that have been affected are in tourist areas such as Bali, where the visit rate has dropped dramatically due to the absence of tourists.

Apart from Bali, his party has also closed its chain of stores in Jambi. But he did not say how many shops were temporarily closed in the area.