KUALA LUMPUR: Poh Kong Holdings Bhd plans to add three outlets this year to its existing 95 outlets in the country, its chairman and group managing director Datuk Eddie Choon Yee Seiong said.

He said the group would invest about RM7 million to set up a store in Melaka next month and RM4 million in a new outlet in Cheras, tentatively in April.

"We are still looking for the right place to set up the third outlet," he told reporters after the company's AGM today.

Choon said the company would continue to diversify its product design and at the same time build up its gems and diamond businesses. Besides its jewellery shops, Poh Kong owns the Diamond Boutique, Schoeffel and Jade Gallery.

Meanwhile, Choon said the price of gold bars had risen 30% in the past year and believed the upward trend would continue. He said Poh Kong remained cautiously optimistic on its outlook and its growth would likely track the country's economic expansion, projected at 4.5% this year.

"We don't really focus on the economy, but on the business itself," he said. "We are optimistic of our retail sales as we have loyal customers who buy gold-based jewellery as a long-term investment as well as an alternative to term-deposit."

Poh Kong posted a 4.9% drop in net profit year-on-year to RM9.86 million for its first quarter ended Oct 31, 2009 on the back of a 5.9% decline in revenue to RM152.39 million.