Wilcon’s 9-month profit down 8%

MANILA  -Business tycoon William Belo’s home improvement retailer Wilcon Depot Inc. saw profits drop by nearly 8 percent during the first nine months of the year on mounting cost pressures, although the company said aggressive expansion targets will proceed as planned.

Net income from January to September this year hit P2.73 billion versus P235 million during the same period in 2022 amid a spike in operating expenses incurred as it opened new stores.

The company’s net revenue grew 4.9 percent to about P26 billion while margins also increased as Wilcon drove up sales of its in-house exclusive brands. This was not enough to offset costs related to expansion, as operating expenses climbed 17.6 percent to P1.05 billion.

Wilcon CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said they remained undeterred from their goal to reach 100 stores by 2024, which was a year ahead of target. The company opened six outlets this year to end the period with 87 stores.

“We are willing to make these short-term sacrifices as we want to be well-positioned to capture more market share in this still high- potential, highly fragmented market,” Belo-Cincochan said on Friday.

“We remain customer-focused, always finding ways to improve our service delivery and agility to adjust to the changing consumer preferences with the aid of technology so that we can continue to give excellent value to our customers even as we expand our market reach,” she added.

Meanwhile, demand was weaker from the past year when removing the impact of new stores. Wilcon’s comparative sales shed 2.1 percent.

“Overall demand for major home improvement and finishing construction supply continues to be soft for retail but resumption of projects by major developers increased project sales by 75.5 percent. Although project sales only account for 1.4 percent of total net sales, the buyers of these projects are potential Wilcon customers,” she said.