Agora turnover to double after acquisition
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Monira Munni
The annual turnover of superstore Agora will almost double after the acquisition of another local chain PQS, a top official said. Niaz Rahim, managing director of Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd, the owning company of Agora, said that the turnover will reach to Tk 3.5 billion (Tk 350 crore), up from Tk 2.0 billion now. "We've taken over new five outlets of PQS," he said. "It's a historic deal. Never happened this in the history of retail chain shop business in Bangladesh," a beaming Rahim told the FE. "It was an instant decision and the agreement was signed just last month," he said, adding that the purchase was part of the company's expansion plan. Mr Rahim said usually, it takes four to five months to set up a new outlet but "Now you can add more than five stores in a month." "We are now conducting massive renovation works to upgrade all the five outlets of PQS to bring them at the equal level of Agora outlets and these outlets will be rolled out as Agora by end of this week," he added. Mr Rahim expressed the hope that the volume of low-margin business will also nearly double with the 10 outlets of Agora by 2012. Bangladesh Supermarket Owners' Association (BSOA) sources said PQS has folded its retail business as its owning company is expanding into other areas. "It is difficult to maintain the retail chain shops if the authority cannot monitor the whole business rigorously," an association source said. Agora, the country's first superstore, started its operation in 2001 fueled by the urban-based affluent section with considerable spending ability. At present, there are 23 companies are operating nearly 100 branches across the country, according to BSOA statistics. The annual combined sales turnover of these superstores stands at around Tk 15.0 billion (Tk 1,500 crore), while the government gets revenue of nearly Tk 300 million (Tk 30 crore) as VAT, BSOA data showed.
The annual turnover of superstore Agora will almost double after the acquisition of another local chain PQS, a top official said. Niaz Rahim, managing director of Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd, the owning company of Agora, said that the turnover will reach to Tk 3.5 billion (Tk 350 crore), up from Tk 2.0 billion now. "We've taken over new five outlets of PQS," he said. "It's a historic deal. Never happened this in the history of retail chain shop business in Bangladesh," a beaming Rahim told the FE. "It was an instant decision and the agreement was signed just last month," he said, adding that the purchase was part of the company's expansion plan. Mr Rahim said usually, it takes four to five months to set up a new outlet but "Now you can add more than five stores in a month." "We are now conducting massive renovation works to upgrade all the five outlets of PQS to bring them at the equal level of Agora outlets and these outlets will be rolled out as Agora by end of this week," he added. Mr Rahim expressed the hope that the volume of low-margin business will also nearly double with the 10 outlets of Agora by 2012. Bangladesh Supermarket Owners' Association (BSOA) sources said PQS has folded its retail business as its owning company is expanding into other areas. "It is difficult to maintain the retail chain shops if the authority cannot monitor the whole business rigorously," an association source said. Agora, the country's first superstore, started its operation in 2001 fueled by the urban-based affluent section with considerable spending ability. At present, there are 23 companies are operating nearly 100 branches across the country, according to BSOA statistics. The annual combined sales turnover of these superstores stands at around Tk 15.0 billion (Tk 1,500 crore), while the government gets revenue of nearly Tk 300 million (Tk 30 crore) as VAT, BSOA data showed.