Puregold buys minority stake in supermarket chain

MANILA, Philippines - Grocery chain Puregold Price Club Inc. has bought a significant minority stake in a Metro Manila-based supermarket, marking its second acquisition this year.

The new supermarket chain will increase Puregold’s exposure in middle income markets in several cities in the metro, a top company official said.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Puregold said its wholly-owned subsidiary Entenso Equities Inc. acquired 49.34 percent of San Roque Supermarket, which owns and operates nine groceries in Metro Manila.

Puregold is open to acquiring the remaining shares in San Roque Supermarket, said Jimmy F. P. Perez, investor relations officer of Puregold.

“We will be keeping the [San Roque Supermarket] brand. We are still minority interest and we would want to respect the owners who really know the market,” he said.

Perez said San Roque Supermarket will increase the exposure of Puregold in several areas in Metro Manila.

San Roque Supermarket has branches in Novaliches in Quezon City, Tondo and Blumentritt in Manila, Malabon, Camarin in Caloocan, Imus in Cavite and Antipolo in Rizal province.

In its social media page, San Roque Supermarket said it is looking for potential sites for its expansion program.

Specifically, it is on the lookout for 1,000-2,000 square meter lots available for sale or lease, ideally located near a public market, church or transportation hub and adjacent to an area with high population density.

The purchase of San Roque Supermarket marks the second acquisition of Puregold this year. In January, it bought Company E Corp. that operates four Eunilaine foodmarts and 11 operating Grocer E supermarts for P329 million.

In January to September this year, Puregold’s earnings spiked 46.5 percent to P2.64 billion from P1.8 billion a year earlier on the back of new stores and acquisitions.

Net sales hit P51.49 billion, up by nearly a third from P39.13 billion in the same period last year while costs of sales picked up at a slower pace of 29.5 percent to P42.57 billion from P32.87 billion.

The grocery chain is putting up a minimum of 25 new stores annually in the next five years, focusing on unserved cities and municipalities nationwide.

This year, the Lucio Co-led grocery chain is branching out in Mindanao with the opening of its flagship store in Cagayan de Oro and an S&R Membership Club in Davao.