Suning Appliance Co plans to increase sales to eight billion yuan (US$10.91 billion) next year in Shanghai by opening more medium and big-sized outlets, the vice president of the electronics retailer said yesterday.

The Shenzhen-listed company will open more than nine big outlets next year in Shanghai, each of which can generate annual revenue of 200 million yuan to 400 million yuan. It will open four or five smaller outlets that can earn 100 million yuan to 200 million in revenue, said Ling Guosheng, vice president of the Nanjing-based company.

The outlets will be mainly set up in Shanghai's southwest or rural areas, where competition is not as fierce as downtown.

The company said sales are expected to reach eight billion yuan next year and 15 billion yuan in 2010.

"The existing 42 outlets have brought us more than five-billion-yuan in revenue so far this year," Ling said.

Suning's revenue in the first nine month of this year reached 2.8 billion yuan, growing 51.68 percent from a year earlier, and its profit totaled 941 million yuan, jumping 105 percent.

It will also expand the market by cooperating with shopping malls such as Shanghai Brilliance (Group) Co, the country's second-largest home appliance retailer.

About 50 million yuan will be invested in service centers in downtown areas such as Zhongshan Park, Xujiahui and Wujiaochang.

The company scrapped its plan to acquire Beijing Dazhong Electrical Appliance Co earlier this month as the two sides failed to reach agreement in some key terms.

Suning's rival Gome Electrical Appliance Holdings Ltd soon announced it will finance the 3.6-billion-yuan acquisition of Dazhong.

(Shanghai Daily December 27, 2007)