McDonald's Malaysia to spend RM1.4b on expansion

PETALING JAYA: McDonald's Malaysia is investing RM1.4 billion to increase the number of its outlets to 450 nationwide by 2025.

Managing director/operating partner, Azmir Jaafar, said McDonald's Malaysia achieved year-on-year revenue growth of 16% last year and was confident of continuing the trend this year.

He said McDonald's Malaysia now has a network of 262 restaurants and 12,000 employees serving 160 million customers annually.

"McDonald's Malaysia is aggressively pursuing an expansion plan. Our committed investment of RM1.4 billion over 10 years is a testament to our confidence in the future of the country," he told reporters after the launch of Fraser and Neave (F&N) Beverages Marketing Sdn Bhd and McDonald's Malaysia joint marketing partnership in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday.

The expansion could create 6,000 more jobs on top of 12,000 that McDonald's Malaysia currently has, he said, adding that the investment reflected the commitment to serve its growing number of customers.

Azmir said to-date, McDonald's Malaysia has more than 150 drive-through restaurants, 200 '24-hour' restaurants, more than 90 restaurants with delivery services and over 100 McCafes, and will continue its growth trajectory under the new Developmental Licensee (DL) ownership.

McDonald's Corp, the world's largest fast-food chain, sold its Malaysia and Singapore franchise licence in late 2016 to a Saudi group Lionhorn Pte Ltd, which already holds a DL for the chain for the western and southern regions of Saudi Arabia.

"Under the DL structure, only shareholder ownership was changed as McDonald's Malaysia was fully bought up by a new company called Tiger Arches, which is part of the Lionhorn group.

"The management will continue on the expansion strategy and programmes. The RM1.4 billion capital investment to support the expansion will come from the business operation and the shareholder," said Azmir, who has been with McDonald's Malaysia for 25 years.

Meanwhile, F&N Ltd senior vice-president/group marketing non-alcoholic beverages, Khalid Alvi, said 100PLUS now stands as Malaysia's number one ready-to-drink beverage.

"The recent accreditation of 100PLUS as a Healthier Choice beverage in conjunction with Malaysia's Ministry of Health's healthier choice campaign enables us to deepen and widen our reach with all segments of the Malaysian population," he said.

He added that the capacities from 100PLUS production hub in Shah Alam (Selangor), Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) plant are expected to still able to meet the current demand, and it is too early to gauge the impact of this maiden marketing partnership with McDonald's to F&N's revenue. - Bernama