SET-listed Singer Thailand, the country's largest hire-purchase firm, is transforming into a holding company to allow it to invest in a variety of product categories to raise its sales and reduce business risk.
Kittipong Kanokvilairat, the company's chief executive, said the holding firm would invest in businesses unfamiliar to Thais during the past century.
The move will take place after subsidiary SG Capital (SGC) lists on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the fourth quarter this year, said Mr Kittipong.
Apart from SGC, Singer is considering spinning off other businesses, while the holding company would team up with startups or forge joint ventures with partners to co-develop products and expand its customer base, he said.
"Singer's brand has been widely recognised by Thai customers for over a century and we believe it can expand to new products, such as snack products made from cannabis, which are planned by year-end," Mr Kittipong said.
According to the company's research, 90% of Thais are aware of the Singer brand and 80% are ready to try Singer products because they are confident about the product quality. This makes the company eager to invest in other businesses to support the group's ecosystem, he said.
In addition, Singer wants to focus on providing hire-purchase products for grocery shops across the country. There are about 10-20 grocery stores in each Thai community, so potential expansion into this new business could be huge, said Mr Kittipong.
"This year is another challenging one for Singer, with a weak global economy hobbled by the prolonged pandemic," he said. "With a strong direct sales network going door to door, we didn't feel very much of an impact from the pandemic in 2021. The company posted its highest profit last year since its establishment in Thailand 133 years ago."
According to Mr Kittipong, although Singer has a dated brand image, it does not plan to change its logo. He said the company would rather reach the young generation through online activities and various channels.
Singer reported a net profit of 701 million baht in 2021, up 58.2% from 2020, with a total revenue of 4.39 billion baht, up 24.2%. The higher revenue was driven by continued demand for electrical appliances and commercial products such as freezers, top-up machines, air conditioners, TVs, washing machines and mobile phones.
As of 2021, Singer operated 3,200 small shops and franchises, with total outstanding loans worth 10.9 billion baht. Of the total outstanding loans, 6.04 billion baht was from car-for-cash businesses, 4.73 billion baht from hire-purchase, while other business accounted for 183 million baht.
Singer provides hire-purchase services for sewing machines, air conditioners, water treatment machines, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and closed-circuit TV monitors. A service for new small electrical appliances such as hair dryers is planned for the second half this year, he said.
Singer has a market capitalisation of 40 billion baht and aims to increase it to 100 billion in five years, said Mr Kittipong.
