Poh Kong: Gold may hit US$1,500 this year

Credit to Business Times at http://www.btimes.com.my

Jewellery retail chain operator Poh Kong Holdings Bhd expects the gold price to edge up by some US$100 to about US$1,500 (RM307 to about RM4,605) an ounce this year on pent-up demand from the recovering global economy.

The gold price is currently hovering between US$1,300 and US$1,400 (RM3,991 and RM4,298) an ounce.

Poh Kong executive chairman and group managing director Datuk Eddie Choon Yee Seeiong said the gold price may climb due to increasing global demand from consumers who are flocking to shopping stores once again due to better economic sentiment.

"This would positively impact the company's revenue and profit this year. We will perform better this year compared to last year, in tandem with the country's gross domestic product growth," Choon told reporters after Poh Kong's annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Choon said the company's 35th anniversary promotions between December 2010 and August 31 this year will entice customers to buy more gold and other precious stone products.


Poh Kong made a pre-tax profit of RM15.1 million in the first quarter ended October last year, up from RM13.7 million in the same quarter in 2009.

Choon said the company plans to open three more outlets in Peninsular Malaysia this year with an investment of RM3 million each. The money will come from internally generated funds.

Out of the three outlets, one will be in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, which is expected to be operational within the first quarter of this year. The locations of the other two outlets have yet to be decided.

Poh Kong - Malaysia's largest manufacturer and retailer of gold, jewellery and other precious stones - has a total of 97 outlets nationwide, of which one is in Sabah, commanding a market share of 15 per cent for gold products alone.

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