Puregold bottom line rises by 11.6% as network continues expansion

Retailer Puregold Price Club Inc. grew its net profit last year by 11.6 percent to P6.52 billion as grocery sales expanded at a double-digit pace despite the high-inflation environment.

Puregold’s consolidated net sales increased by 13.2 percent to P140.9 billion in 2018, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

Flagship grocery chain brand Puregold accounted for 78 percent of total revenue while S&R Membership warehouse clubs and S&R New York Style Pizza stores contributed the remaining 22 percent.

Income from operations grew by 3.3 percent to P8.94 billion in 2018.

This meant that for every P1 worth of sales revenue booked by the company, 4.6 centavos went directly into the company’s bottom line.

Excluding the impact of higher sales from the opening of new stores, Puregold stores registered stronger-than-expected same store sales growth (SSSG) of 5.8 percent in 2018 while S&R’s SSSG stood higher at 8.4 percent during the same period.

“We were able to sustain our SSSG in the last quarter of 2018 driven by higher consumer spending fueled both by minimum wage inflation and higher take-home pay as a result of the tax reform law passed early 2018,” Puregold said.

As of the end of 2018, the Puregold group operated a total of 408 stores nationwide. These are composed of 354 Puregold stores, 16 S&R membership shopping warehouses and 39 S&R New York Style quick-service restaurants.

Puregold, which is led by the family of retail magnate Lucio Co, intends to expand its store network by another 25 new Puregold stores and four new S&R warehouses in 2019. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA