Coating expert, Nippon Paint Malaysia, is eyeing an up to 15 per cent hike in sales growth this year, despite the challenging market environment, said group general manager Gladys Goh Kaye Jen.
She said new business diversification, latest product innovation, as well as growing public awareness on coating, are among factors contributing to the growth, which in line with the group’s sales target of RM1 billion by end-2017.
“We need to grow 10 to 15 per cent year-on-year. However, this year, the market sentiment is challenging due to the Goods and Services Tax implementation and a weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar.
“Thus, our growth was a strong single-digit in the first half of this year,” she told Bernama.
In 2014, the company registered sales of more than RM650 million, with almost 90 per cent coming from the architectural/structural paint category, and the rest from automotive paints.
Gladys anticipates sales momentum to pick up in the second half of the year, as consumers slowly adjust to the GST, and also partly boosted by festive demand.
Meanwhile, she said the Group aims to achieve a 50 per cent market share in the local decorative segment this year from the 47 per cent as of Dec 31, 2014.
“This will be achieved via three core strategies, namely expanding regional operations, rolling out innovative total coating solutions for every imaginable surface, and growing our distribution network with the Nippon Colour Creations tinting system,” she added.
Nippon Paint, Malaysia’s foremost total coating solutions provider, offers comprehensive coating solutions for multi-segments from architectural, protective, industrial, automotive and marine.
It also provides comprehensive coating solutions for multi-surfaces, from metal to wood, tiles, cement, slate, glass and even plastic.
— Bernama