Discussions on modern retail, at times, feel very political. But not without reason. The people who consider modern retail as the byproduct of the evil capitalism are amongst those who are negatively impacted by the aggressive expansion of chains of convenience stores. The problem is when the same group of people conclude that modern retail is altogether bad, as if to dismiss the existence of locally grown small to medium size modern retailers.

One of the keys to success in a presidential race is momentum. Many believe that Prabowo Subianto has lost his — he had it in 2009, and today is Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s time. Nevertheless, Prabowo still believes that he has the chance. So, let’s review his performance.

Semen Baturaja (SMBR) is the first cement company releasing full year 2013 results. This company booked net profit of Rp312 billion from sales revenue of Rp1.17 trillion, representing net profit margin (NPM) of 27%. Semen Gresik and Indocement reported NPM of 22.5% and 27% respectively in nine months of 2013. There is no public information about profitability of Semen Bosowa, but one could guess.

Bakrie Group dominated acquisitions few years ago despite troubles at its main locomotive: Bumi Resources. Chairul Tanjung’s CT Corp followed with over US$1 billion acquisition of retail giant Carrefour Indonesia, stakes in flag carrier Garuda Indonesia or cable TV network TelkomVision from Telkom. Now people talk about Bosowa Group.

On Feb. 11, 2014, vice presidential hopeful from Hanura Party, Hary Tanoesoedibyo, spoke to his fellow partymen in Banyuwangi. In his talk, Hary spoke briefly about Jokowi about whom he said, “His time is up.” Hary Tanoe was referring to Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s declining electability as reported recently in a number of surveys. The question is, of course, whether Hary is right to then conclude that the Governor of Jakarta is done for.

Shares of Wilmar International gained 1.51% to S$3.36 Thursday (Feb 20). It is, however, nowhere near its peak early last year and still not even half of its value four years ago. The company generated net profit of US$1.32 billion last year, grew 5.1% from 2012, but represented net profit margin of 3% only. Wilmar, however, continues its acquisition spree. This time, it acquires India-based sugar player Shree Renuka Sugars Limited.

Asia Resource Minerals Plc informed market participants yesterday that Bakrie Group has only raised US$163 million, rather than the US$228 million required to complete the separation transaction (Bakrie leaves London-listed company, but gets Bumi Resources shares) on its original terms. Bakrie then requested an extension of the completion date and a revision of the transaction.

Other than big players like Indomaret, Alfamart, Alfamidi, Circle-K, 7-eleven, Lawson, and Starmart, there are smaller chains offering the same self-service concept that are typically owned by a local family living in the neighborhood in which the chain operates. In this instalment, we are going to talk about DM Baru Group, a local retail company from Bantul, Yogyakarta.