KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 30): Sunway Malls' 2023 sales performance has registered a 5% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth, on the back of Sunway Carnival Mall's double digit growth, resilient out-of-home dining and a strong 1Q2023 festive spending across Sunway Malls.

Sunway Mall's 1Q2023 sales performance came in above expectations with growth at 19% y-o-y, before moderating for the remaining quarters. The 2Q performance matched its previous year same-period performance, while the 3Q performance came in 2% higher. The final quarter saw 1% growth.

The group's 2023 performance surpassed the record in 2022.

In a press statement on Friday, Sunway Malls & Theme Parks CEO HC Chan said: “Certainly, Sunway Malls' strong 1Q performance provided a huge buffer to ease off the moderation effect of the remaining quarters. Throughout 2023, businesses and consumers faced escalating costs due to inflation and weaker ringgit arising from the Fed's aggressive interest hikes. Still Sunway Malls had managed to navigate both the challenging business landscape and the high base of 2022 to achieve a commendable 5% growth.

“F&B category has made headway and emerged as one of the Top 20 sale categories in Sunway Malls, which was previously dominated by non-F&B categories,” shared Chan.

He added that the mall group operator takes cognizance of several key headwind themes in 2024 — tax hikes and new taxes, roll-back of subsidies, tariff hikes, persistent inflationary outlook and geopolitical tensions, amongst many others which continue to drive business costs up and weigh heavily on margin and profitability for this year.

“However, it remains optimistic given its proven track record, strong branding and network of retail partners. For 2024, the mall group forecasts growth of 5% in tandem with potential turnaround in external demand. We see this as part of a normalisation of growth towards more sustainable levels,” Chan remarked.