– increased by 4.7 per cent in the fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues for the quarter were US$4.3 billion (136.1 billion Thai baht). Excluding the mall rental business, which is a relatively small component of revenues, sales grew by 4.8 per cent, comprising 5.9 per cent growth for Makro and 3.4 per cent for Lotus’s. The gross margin percentage of sales was slightly down, to 14.1 per cent, which the company attributed to a change in the sales mix favouring lower-margin commodities, wholesale non-food clearance and retail stock loss. However, with operating cost control and a decrease in financing costs, net profit for the quarter was 2.8 billion baht (US$87 million), an increase of 5.7 per cent on a year ago. The numbers are good, but remain weighed down by weak domestic consumption and a wonky tourism sector that is changing in composition. Both Lotus’s retail stores and Makro’s mostly wholesale business are exposed to fluctuations in tourism: just over 30 per cent of Makro’s sales are to HoReCa (hotel, restaurant and catering) customers, but so far the company says it is holding up. Indeed, while tourist arrivals fell by nearly 3 per cent year-on-year during the quarter, HoReCa sales managed to edge up. Second-quarter results will be more revealing of exactly how resilient that business is, given the geopolitical situation and its impact on the travel industry. The main factors behind the 5.9 per cent growth of wholesale sales in the first quarter were new store openings, omnichannel, fresh and dry food, and private-label products. For Makro, there were two net new openings over the 12 months (four openings and two closings), bringing the wholesale store count to 168 in Thailand and 10 in Malaysia. Same-store sales edged up by 0.6 per cent. On the retail side, the 3.4 per cent increase was underpinned by fresh food, ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook items, dry food and private-label products. The growth was driven by 109 net store openings, while same-store sales were flat compared with the preceding year. Flat, however, was a welcome improvement from the fourth quarter of 2025 when same-store sales plunged 7.6 per cent, leading management to declare that “retail showed signs of stabilisation”. Across both the wholesale and retail businesses, omnichannel accounted for 22 per cent of company sales in the first quarter, representing a continuation of the steady growth it has achieved over the past couple of years. The company wants to bring that penetration rate up to 25 per cent by the end of this year. Mall rental revenues continue to grow Revenue from the company’s mall rental business – which the company calls its malls “lifestyle hubs” – is a meaningful income stream, although it is still somewhat less than 3 per cent of total revenues. In the first quarter, it grew by 3.8 per cent to 3.6 billion baht (US$113 million). Mall revenues refer mainly to small tenant spaces leased in Lotus’s hypermarket-anchored shopping centres, which, like its main competitor Big C, dot the country and serve as major one-stop-shop destinations for millions of Thai households. In many secondary markets, Lotus’s and Big C malls are the main shopping destinations and perform an important social function as well as a commercial one. As new malls are opened and existing ones are renovated and expanded on an ongoing basis, rental revenues grow. The company actively manages the space, so the tenant mix is constantly being improved. Occupancy is currently at 91 per cent in Thailand, slightly below that for the company’s malls in Malaysia. Although most of the mall space is associated with Lotus’s retail stores, company management is trying to increase small tenancies in Makro buildings. Big C doing it rough Big C, the retail arm of Berli Jucker and arguably Lotus’s most important competitor because of the similarity of their various formats and their importance in secondary markets, suffered another quarter of declining sales to kick off what looks likely to be a tough year. Retail sales were down 4.1 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, to 24.436 billion baht (US$763 million). However, this was partly due to a decline in the store count, particularly a decrease of more than 100 of its small-format stores. Even so, same-store sales growth remains mired in negative territory, with a 3.3 per cent decline. The company is particularly disappointed in its non-food sales and the adverse impact of the ongoing spat with Cambodia on some of its border-area stores. Big C, like Lotus’s, has a community shopping centre business anchored by its hypermarkets, and occupancy is improving. However, many of the centres are underinvested and badly in need of a facelift. Its convenience stores, Big C Mini, also tend towards frumpiness in many places and lack a clear merchandising identity compared with their competitors. Store openings: much of the heavy lifting is already done For Makro-Lotus’s, most of the 120 or so new store openings planned for the year had already been opened in the first quarter. All but a handful of the openings were Lotus’s Go Fresh mini-supermarkets, which max out at about 300sqm and focus on fresh meats and produce. This gives the chain a neatly complementary focus to its main competitor, 7-Eleven, which is more weighted towards ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods. However, CP Axtra has a lot more fish to fry in Malaysia, where it purchased the TFP chain of 50 premium supermarkets. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, provided it receives the necessary regulatory approvals. The company ended the quarter with 2,847 stores, including 70 in Malaysia. Further reading: How Central Retail plans to become Thailand’s market leader