Malaysia : Teo Guan Lee taps growing market

TEO Guan Lee Corp Bhd, a specialist in the marketing of children’s apparel and footwear, has formulated a business strategy to enlarge its share of the children’s apparel market for the 2004 fiscal year. 

“The market for children’s apparel has grown tremendously over the past few years due to greater disposable incomes. To tap the growing market we plan to introduce a new children''s apparel product to cater to parents from the higher income group by early next year.

“So far, our children''s apparel is targeted at the middle-income earners,'''' Teo Guan Lee group executive director Toh Kian Beng told StarBiz. 

In July the group introduced a new range of children''s apparel and stationery products under the brand name of Tom and Jerry.

Toh said Teo Guan Lee would also spend more on advertisements to promote its children''s apparel products. 

“Last year, we spent some RM200,000 on advertisements and this year, we have allocated RM500,000 for advertising on television alone,” she said. 

According to Toh, the group also plans to establish at least 10 more children''s apparel counters in department stores in the country this year.

Currently, the group has more than 300 counters.

For the year ended June 30, Teo Guan Lee achieved RM73mil in revenue, an increase of 11% over the previous year''s, while pre-tax profit was RM4mil compared to RM3.5mil a year ago. Sales of children’s apparel and footwear contributed over 50% to group turnover. 

“Our Mizuno sportswear apparel sold in Malaysia and Singapore contributed another 20% and the balance via sales of non-branded apparel, stationery and towel products. The sales of Mizuno have increased by 10% compared to that of last year due to active collaboration between the group and department stores in promoting the brand,” she said. 

Toh said the group was now in the process of raising its paid-up capital to RM40mil.

Listed since 1994, Teo Guan Lee operates in an 80,000-sq ft office-cum-warehouse in the Prai industrial estate. It also has two sales offices-cum-warehouses in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.