PETALING JAYA (March 29): Bison Consolidated Bhd hopes to operate 400 convenience stores across Malaysia by the end of this year, from the current 328 entities, to grow the company's distribution channel.

Bison, which owns and operates the myNEWS.com outlets, also runs the MAGBIT and newsplus entities. Bison chief executive officer Dang Tai Luk said the company is on track to open 18 new stores across the country in its second quarter ending April 30, 2017.

Today, Dang said: "We opened 18 new stores in the first quarter, and we are still now on track to open 18 new stores in the second quarter [despite a slight slowdown over the Chinese New Year period]."

He was speaking to reporters after Bison's annual general meeting here today.

On Bison's international expansion, Dang said there has been interest from Indonesia but plans are still in preliminary stages.

"We currently have two stores operating at the Yangon International Airport in Myanmar," he said.

At Bursa Malaysia, Bison shares rose three sen or 1.6% at 12:30pm to settle at RM1.89 for a market value of RM576.73 million. Bison's latest reported net assets per share stood at 51 sen.