Cosco nets P3.24B

Cosco Capital Inc., the holding firm of retail magnate Lucio Co, saw a 7.5 percent growth in nine-month net profit attributable to equity holders of parent to P3.24 billion on higher earnings from its retailing, real estate and liquor distribution business.

Flagship grocery chain Puregold Price Club Inc., for its part, reported a consolidated net income of P3.65 billion in the first nine months, marking a 14-percent year-on-year growth. For the third quarter alone, Puregold’s net profit rose by 15 percent year-on-year to P1.38 billion.

Cosco’s nine-month revenues grew by 11.5 percent year-on-year during the nine-month period to P90.84 billion.

Puregold and S&R Membership Shopping Club contributed 57 percent of total profits, followed by the commercial real estate segment with 24 percent share and liquor distribution with 12 percent.

Consolidated net margins of Puregold in the first nine months stood at 4.6 percent.

“Our nine month same store sales growth (SSSG) of 6.6 percent for Puregold stores and 1.4 percent for S&R stores were driven by strong consumer demand even after the elections. We hope that this level of momentum in SSSG can be sustained for the remainder of the year,” said Puregold president Vincent Co.

Puregold’s consolidated net sales increased by 16.9 percent to P78.74 in the first nine months attributed to the strong consumer demand from its existing Puregold, S&R stores and S&R New York Style Pizza stores as well as the newly opened stores.

As of end September, Puregold had a total of 317 stores nationwide. These include 268 Puregold stores, 11 S&R membership shopping warehouse, and 21 S&R New York Style QSR, nine NE Bodega Supermarkets and eight Budgetlane Supermarkets.

Cosco’s specialty retailing segment, composed of Liquigaz Philippines Corp. and Office Warehouse Inc., accounted for 10 percent of net profit.

“The Cosco group is working hard to sustain its growth momentum and strengthen our existing business segments. Cosco Capital is likewise constantly seeking for opportunities for expansion and possible acquisitions to further grow our investment portfolio,” said Cosco president Leonardo Dayao.

The group’s grocery retail segment grew its consolidated revenues by 16.9 percent to P78.7 billion. As of end-September, this segment operated a total of 317 stores nationwide.

Revenues from liquor distribution increased by 9.8 percent year-on-year to P3.7 billion during the nine-month period on the back of the 16-percent increase in volume of cases sold during the year.

Office Warehouse’s revenues grew by 19 percent to P1.16 billion. This unit was operating a total of 64 retail outlets.

The group’s commercial real estate segment posted a 1.1-percent increase in revenues to P1.74 billion and an 8.5 percent year-on-year increase in net income to P776 million during the nine-month period.

On the other hand, Liquigaz revenues declined by 26 percent to P6.74 billion mainly due to the continued depressed global LPG prices during the period.