The COVID-19 Craze And The Emergency PPKM Do Not Affect The Alfamart Plan Owned By The Conglomerate Djoko Susanto To Add Hundreds Of Outlets

Alfamart outlets. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The number of COVID-19 cases in the country has continued to increase in recent times. The government was forced to issue a policy of implementing Emergency PPKM. This condition makes the search for retail companies languish again, but this does not affect the expansion plans of PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk (AMRT) or Alfamart.

Corporate Affairs Director AMRT Solihin said that the retail issuer managing the Alfamart network has yet to put the brakes on the plan to add outlets for 2021. According to him, this plan is not something impromptu but has been prepared in advance.

"No, we haven't made any changes. Until now, the expansion plan is still around 650-850 new outlets. So if we look at the achievements in June, they are still on track. PPKM will start in July," he said when contacted by VOI, Wednesday, July 7th.

Therefore, Solihin hopes that this Emergency PPKM will not be continued, aka completed on July 20 as originally planned by the government. If the restrictions on community activities continue, it is possible that there will be changes to the plan to expand hundreds of outlets for the company owned by conglomerate Djoko Susanto.

"PPKM is only in July. Now we are all relatively delaying going out. So if for example PPKM is finished on July 20, it might mean that we can still move a lot. But if this condition is still ongoing and the PPKM is extended the story could be different," he said. .

To support this target, AMRT will disburse capital expenditure (capex) of IDR 2.5 trillion to IDR 3 trillion, which will be funded from internal cash. However, Solihin did not specify the realization until the first semester.

The spike in cases causes sales performance to decline

Solihin also did not deny that the surge in COVID-19 cases would make Alfamart Group's sales performance decline. Alfamart Group outlets are present in residential areas as well as offices, so that mobility restrictions and office closures have an impact on Alfamart sales.

Moreover, said Solihin, operating hours during the emergency PPKM period are becoming increasingly limited. Initially, retail was still allowed to open until 22.00 local time, but during the Emergency PPKM period at 20.00 local time, the outlets had to be closed.

"In terms of reduced operating hours. Surely this will reduce customers who come because operating hours are reduced," he said.

Even so, Solihin explained that this emergency PPKM condition was actually not a new thing. According to him, the Emergency PPKM period is almost the same as the PSBB period at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Thus, the results are more predictable because many adaptations have been made.

"What's the difference with PSBB? It's similar. We've been through this period in the beginning, yes, of course, no one wants this condition," he said.

Solihin said that since last year's pandemic, the Alfamart Group has continued to boost sales through online-based platforms. However, this strategy has not been able to cover the decline in offline sales.

"Indeed there is an increase but the online contribution is not too big. This means that it does not immediately replace what comes when we apply online. But the trend is increasing," he explained

For your information, as of December 2020, the total number of AMRT regular and franchise outlets reached 17,538 outlets. An increase of 1,405 from the previous year. The distribution of Alfamart group outlets is in Java (non-Jabodetabek) by 37 percent, Jabodetabek 32 percent, and outside Java 31 percent.

In the first quarter of 2021, AMRT has realized a capex of around IDR 700 billion. With these funds, AMRT has opened about 250 new outlets.