erlying weakness in consumer sentiment across the three countries — Thailand, Vietnam and Italy — in which Central operates. By the end of 2024, Central will have opened two department stores, seven Thaiwatsadu home improvement superstores, 10 Tops supermarkets and six of its new Go! Wholesale stores in Thailand, the latter a new concept launched to compete with CP Axtra’s Makro. In Vietnam, the company will have opened three Go! malls, three Go! hypermarkets and five Mini Go! by the end of the year. As of September 30, 2024, Central boasts a massive network of 3759 stores with a net sales area of 3.7 million square meters.  Satisfied at three-quarter time Total company revenues surged by 6 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter to reach 63.1 billion Thai baht (about $1.9 billion). The retail sales component increased by 5 per cent but this was on the back of a 7 per cent increase in net sales area, meaning that average store productivity declined slightly. Omnichannel sales continued to spurt ahead by 10 per cent, twice the rate of the total, bringing online up to 21 per cent of company sales (26 per cent in Thailand). The sales improvements are concentrated particularly in tourism-oriented parts of the country. The gross margin percentage on sales in the third quarter was 26.3 per cent, down from 26.7 per cent a year ago. Administrative expenses decreased sharply and net profit was 2.2 billion Thai baht ($68 million), up strongly from 1.3 billion baht ($38 million) in the same quarter a year ago.  For the first nine months as a whole, revenue grew by 6 per cent to 193.5 billion baht ($5.9 billion) and net profit by 21 per cent to 6.3 billion baht ($159 billion). Food, fashion and hard goods Central reports its retail sales broken out into food, fashion and hardlines segments. The food segment is accounted for by its Tops supermarkets, Tops Daily convenience stores, Go! Wholesale plus several health and wellness brands in Thailand, and its Go! hypermarkets, Tops Market, go! and Lanchi in Vietnam. Collectively, their sales increased by almost 12 per cent in the third quarter but this was heavily weighted toward Thailand, where sales grew by 22 per cent compared with 1 per cent in Vietnam. Moreover, the result was driven by the new store additions — 48 in all so far this year– while same-store sales were down by 3 per cent for the quarter and lag 1 per cent year to date.  For fashion it was a similar story: 54 new stores driving year-on-year sales growth of 5 per cent for the quarter and 7 per cent year to date while same-store sales declined by 2 per cent. Exciting things lie ahead in the fashion business though, with the unveiling of the completed Luxe Galerie at Central Chidlom on 12 December. Central is not above blowing its own trumpet, which is understandable but sometimes it runs a bit off the rails. In a bit of a face-slap for every other store in Bangkok, many of which are Central’s own, the company now insists on referring to Central Chidlom as “The Store of Bangkok”. Certainly, it is one of the oldest, and its heyday was at the leading edge of Thai retail, but time takes its toll. For hardlines, the situation was slightly different to food and fashion because the company closed a net 17 stores — a mix of Powerbuy, Officemate and B2S stores in Thailand, and Nguyen Kim stores in Vietnam. These were partly offset by the aggressive openings (8 so far this year) of Thai Watsadu, its home improvement flag carrier. Home improvement in Thailand is hotly contested, with Thai Watsadu vying for the number one spot with HomePro and Siam Global House. But with a diabolical rainy season in the north that put home improvement projects on hold, total sales for the hardlines category fell by 3 per cent and same-store sales by 9 per cent.  The Nguyen Kim (NK) home appliance fleet in Vietnam is a particular sore spot for Central. Same-store sales were hammered yet again in the third quarter, falling by 21 per cent, on top of a 37 per cent fall in the corresponding quarter last year for a two-year stack of -58 per cent. Malls keep chugging along Central operates Robinsons lifestyle malls and Tops Plazas in Thailand, and Go! malls in Vietnam. In the main, these malls are built for secondary markets with insufficient spending power in their trade areas to support one of the full-scale superregional malls operated by Central Retail’s sibling company, Central Pattana. Business at these malls is not doing too badly, with rental and services income growing by 2 per cent in the third quarter. The company ended the quarter with 73 malls that total 751,465 square meters of net leasable area. Economic outlook Both the Thai and Vietnamese economies are expected to grow next year at about the same rate as 2024, but while Vietnam is enjoying some of the fastest growth in Southeast Asia (nearly 7 per cent in the first nine months of the year), Thailand’s continues to be overdependent on tourism. Spending by Thai households and businesses is hampered by debt, another unfortunate consequence of Covid-mania and the collapse of fiscal discipline four years ago. More recently, the rainy season brought exceptional flooding in north and northeastern parts of the country, causing mayhem and making it difficult to get to stores. However, on the positive side in terms of outlook, the government is still to pull the trigger on its long-delayed digital cash handout stimulus program, and in October the Bank of Thailand, the country’s central bank, finally relented and reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, despite rapid economic growth, household spending has been muted.