Puregold 9-month profit up 67%

Supermarket chain Puregold Price Club Inc. saw its profit rise by two thirds in the first nine months of the year. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Supermarket chain Puregold Price Club Inc. saw its profit rise by two thirds in the first nine months of the year, following the rapid expansion of its business around the country.

The company said that for the quarter ending September 30, total net sales reached P39.14 billion, an increase of 45.2 percent from year-ago level. This drove profit up to P1.8 billion in the nine-month period, up 67.2 percent year on year.

This translated to a 4.6-percent net profit margin as of the end of September, up from 4 percent in the previous year.

“(This) was largely due to increased sales turnover arising from the full nine-month operations of the 38 Puregold stores that were opened in 2011,” the company said.

These new stores, it said, contributed 48.8 percent of the total increase in net sales for the covered period.

In June 2012, the listed firm acquired six S&R warehouse clubs and 19 Parco supermarkets. These acquisitions contributed 35.3 percent of the total increase in the company’s net sales.

Puregold, owned by businessman Lucio Co, earlier said it expected net sales to grow by 50 percent by the end of the year, while net profit margins would average at 4.5 percent. In the company’s forecasts, which were based on a revised 2012 financial results guidance, Puregold is expected to post a net profit of P2.63 billion this year, or 71 percent higher year on year.

This would be achieved through the establishment of 31 new stores.

In the first nine months of 2012, the company opened 20 new Puregold stores consisting of 10 “hypermarkets,” eight supermarkets and two extras. Another hypermarket and another supermarket were opened in October, bringing the group’s total store count to 122 Puregold stores in operation.—Paolo G. Montecillo