MANILA -The property and supermarket businesses led by tycoon Edgar “Injap” Sia II saw strong earnings growth during the first quarter of 2023 while they maintained healthy balance sheets in preparation for future expansion.
Listed retail company MerryMart Consumer Corp. said net income from January to March surged nearly 53 percent to P19 million while revenues reached P1.75 billion, up 46 percent.
Sia, who is the chair of the supermarket operator, said MerryMart has 117 operating branches and continued to enjoy a robust cash position of P2.71 billion.
“MerryMart continues to strengthen its position in preparation for the upcoming shift of tide to a fresh new cycle of economic boom years that should naturally follow after a major economic crisis,” Sia said in a separate statement.
“We believe that companies who demonstrate that they are able to navigate very well the series of major economic crises, such as what we have all experienced, will be in a unique position to capture the extraordinary opportunities that will present itself after all the chaos and the fire has cleared and the smoke has settled,” he added.
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The company’s formats include MerryMart Express, MerryMart Market, MerryMart Grocery, and MerryMart Wholesale. It aims to reach 1,200 branches and total systemwide sales of P120 billon by 2030.
Property developer DoubleDragon Corp., a venture between Sia and fast food billionaire Tony Tan Caktiong, saw first quarter profit grow 10.83 percent to P520.09 million while revenue went up 0.1 percent to P1.72 billion.
Sia underscored the strong cash position of DoubleDragon at P9 billion.
The company ended the period with total assets of about P162 billion, up 3.26 percent, while total equity stood at P82 billion, up 0.44 percent.
DoubleDragon earlier revealed an aggressive international growth strategy for its Hotel101 condotel chain.
Outside the Philippines, it announced new locations in California, US after Madrid, Spain and Niseko, Japan. Sia said their long-term goal was to turn Hotel101 into a “top 5” international hotel brand with more than 500,000 hotel rooms in 101 countries by 2040.
READ: BIZ BUZZ: Hotel 101 going global