Wilcon gunning for P600-M target in quarterly profits

Leading home improvement retailer Wilcon Depot Inc. expects to return to prepandemic revenue performance this full year due to additional sales contributed by newly opened stores.

Excluding the impact of new stores, however, Wilcon may not be able to return to prepandemic business volume until next year, vice president for investor relations May Jean Alge said on Monday at a press briefing after the company’s stockholders’ meeting.

Wilcon, which grew its net income by 84 percent year-on-year to P604 million in the first quarter, aims to sustain the P600-million quarterly bottom line in the next quarters. Alge stressed, however, it was a “target and not a guidance.”

Affected by lockdowns

If the first quarter results were to be annualized, Wilcon would be able to attain a full-year net profit of about P2.4 billion versus the P2.14 billion net profit achieved in 2019, or before the onset of the health crisis. Due to pandemic-related disruptions, Wilcon’s net profit declined to P1.45 billion in 2020.

This year, Alge said Wilcon was still a little behind in terms of same store sales output versus 2019 because the bigger and more mature stores in Greater Metro Manila had been affected by the renewed lockdown measures the government had to impose beginning March to curb the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

“Fortunately, this year we were not asked to close our stores. We remained operational, but then foot traffic dropped because of the (COVID-19) surge and the consequent restrictions. We gradually picked up the pace of foot traffic and we hope it will be sustained until the end of the year,” Alge said.

Savings

Wilcon’s net sales in the first quarter of 2021 rose by 19.4 percent year-on-year to P6.68 billion with a comparable sales growth of 9.8 percent.

On the other hand, full year net sales in 2019 amounted to P24.8 billion.

Wilcon chief operating officer Rosemarie Ong said the P600-million first quarter 2021 net profit was achieved mostly due to savings from operating efficiencies. Alge added the reduction in corporate income tax as enabled by the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) Law likewise boosted net profits.

Wilcon expects to spend a total of P3.5 billion for capital expenditures for the whole year, of which P2.9 billion is still to be disbursed.

The group also expects to end this year with a total of 72 stores compared to 63 at end-2020.

“Hopefully, we can accelerate our store expansion to 100 stores before 2025,” Ong said. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA