Susco unveils 5-year investment plan to open more gas stations
Oil company Susco plans to invest Bt2 billion over five years, with the goal of having 300 gas stations nationwide by the end of 2025.
“This plan should help increase the company’s market share beyond the current 3 per cent,” said Chairit Simaroj, managing director of Susco Plc.
“This year, we plan to invest Bt550 million to add 20 gas stations to our existing portfolio of 240 stations nationwide, as well as renovate 50 stations in Bangkok and big cities.
“We estimate this year’s sales to expand by 20 per cent over last year when the company's sales plummeted due to the Covid-19 outbreak and lost revenue from jet fuel export, which should return to normal by the second to third quarter of this year,” he added.
Susco will also focus on non-oil businesses by adding Lawson 108 convenience stores, Starbucks and D’Oro coffee shops, KFC and Subway restaurants to their gas stations.
“We estimate that revenue from non-oil businesses will surpass Bt100 million within 3 years,” adds Chairit.
“One of the silver linings from the Covid-19 outbreak is that many land owners have put their lands up for sale at lower price than before the pandemic, which has enabled us to establish new gas stations at a lower cost,” said Chairit.
“Susco has also employed several cost-saving measures which have helped us maintain our business goals without downsizing.”
Chairat added that the investment plan for 2021 had been prepared in November 2020 and therefore did not factor in the second wave of Covid-19, which started in December.
“We will evaluate our oil sales by the end of January to see if any adjustment to the plan is needed,” he added.
