Apex Starts 99SMART at Buy with 19% Upside as 4,250-Store Ambition Fuels Earnings Growth
Octopaul AI ·
Apex Securities analyst Wong Kai Heng initiated coverage of 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings with a “Buy” rating and RM3.70 target price, implying 19% upside. He favours Malaysia’s largest homegrown mini-market operator for its expanding network, higher customer traffic and improving operating efficiency. The group operated 3,151 outlets and 22 distribution centres as at June 2026, with management targeting approximately 250 new outlets annually towards 4,250 by 2030.
Wong sees further expansion opportunities in Sabah, Sarawak and the East Coast, where market penetration remains low. Greater purchasing scale, product-mix improvements and energy-saving investments should support margins. He forecasts core net profit to rise 18.5% to RM719.5 million in 2026F, followed by 13.3% growth to RM815 million in 2027F.
Government assistance could provide additional support, with Budget 2027 raising combined STR and SARA allocations to RM16 billion from RM15 billion. Nevertheless, Wong takes a cautious view of the sustainability of aid-driven sales growth, forecasting same-store sales growth to normalise to 6% from 2027F, compared with 9.1% in 1H26. His margin-expansion outlook also depends on effective cost control offsetting higher wages and operating expenses.
As of 9:29 a.m. on October 20, 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings’ share price fell 1% to RM3.08.
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