Puregold profit up 5.7% in 2017

Lucio Co-led retailer Puregold Price Club grew net profit last year by 5.7 percent to P5.84 billion by adding new stores and increasing sales out of existing stores.

Puregold’s consolidated net sales increased by 10.6 percent to P124.5 billion in 2017, attributed to strong consumer demand that boosted sales of the Puregold network as well as the S&R Membership warehouse clubs and S&R New York Style Pizza stores.

Based on a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, income from operations grew to P8.65 billion in 2017, up by 6.9 percent from the previous year.

The group’s mature store network registered better-than-expected same store sales growth (SSSG) of 4.4 percent for the Puregold brand and 6.5 percent for the S&R brands, driven by strong consumer demand and the sustained economic growth of the country.

The group has been growing through a combination of organic expansion as well as through acquisitions.

As of end 2017, the Puregold group had a total of 372 stores nationwide. These include 309 Puregold stores, 14 S&R membership shopping warehoure stores; 32 S&R New York Style fast-food stores, nine NE Bodega Supermarkets and eight Budgetlane Supermarkets.

Puregold aims to continue to expand its store network by opening 25 new Puregold stores and two new S&R warehouse stores this 2018.