Wilcon nets P887M in 9 months

Newly listed home improvement and construction supplier Wilcon Depot Inc. (WDI) chalked up a net profit of P887 million in the period April to December.

There was no comparative year-on-year figure as WDI began operations on April 1, 2016 when the retail business and assets were completely transferred from parent company Wilcon Corp., formerly Wilcon Builder’s Depot Inc.

“We are pleased to announce that we finished the year strong, both in our top and bottom lines. Our nine-month net sales reached P12.3 billion, 96.7 percent of which was generated by our depot format stores,” WDI chief financial officer Mark Andrew Belo said in a press statement on Wednesday.

WDI’s gross profit for the nine-month period amounted to P3.3 billion for a gross margin of 26.8 percent while operating profit (or earnings before interest and tax) reached P1.04 billion for an operating margin of 8.5 percent.

Prior to the transfer of the retail operations to create WDI, Wilcon Corp. registered net sales of P3.7 billion and net income of P269 million based on its audited statements for the three-month period ended March 31, 2016.

“Sales from our existing stores were augmented by the opening of two new stores in 2016, one in Molino, Cavite in April and another in Sta. Rosa, Laguna in September. These areas have seen remarkable growth in real estate development particularly in the horizontal housing segment, Wilcon’s natural market. These stores along with the existing ones in the same region are expected to contribute more to the Company’s revenues in many years to come given the demographics of their locations,” Belo explained.

“During the year, we have also maximized the rebates and discounts available to us from our suppliers as we reached most and even exceeded some of our sales volume targets. This contributed to our margins and consequently bumped up our net income as we have also efficiently managed our operating expenses.”

Belo also cited a number of initiatives taken by the retailer this year, including expansion of the company’s own brands in product categories where the group saw the market potential.

“We hope that these initiatives along with our planned store expansion will bear fruit and sustain our growth trajectory in the next few years,” he said.

WDI debuted on the stock exchange under the ticker symbol “WLCON” on March 31, bringing to public hands about 34 percent of its total issued and outstanding shares.