Cosco Capital earnings rise 20% to P4.01B in 2014

MANILA, Philippines - Cosco Capital Inc., the investment vehicle of retail magnate Lucio Co, grew its net profit by a fifth last year behind strong contributions from all its business units.

Cosco said its net income reached a record level in 2014 as it rose 20 percent to P4.01 billion from P3.33 billion the previous year.

 “I believe that 2015 will be another record year of profits for Cosco as all our operating business units have shown double digit profit growth in 2014 and we are excited for more expansions and acquisitions across all businesses to cater to the growing demands of consumers,” Cosco president Leonardo Dayao said.

Cosco has businesses in retail, real estate, wine and liquor, and specialty retail through Liquigaz, the second largest LPG player in the Philippines, and Office Warehouse.

Last year, Cosco said the retail business unit contributed the bulk of profits at 73 percent, followed by real estate leasing at 15 percent, liquor distribution at 10 percent and specialty retail at two percent.

The firm said profits of the retail business increased 14 percent year-on-year while real estate leasing rose by 81 percent.

Profits of the company’s liquor distribution and specialty retail, meanwhile, grew 12 percent and 54 percent, respectively.

In terms of revenues, Cosco said 2014 was a solid year with its retail business segment leading the charge.

Cosco’s consolidated revenues last year went up 27 percent to P98.75 billion from P77.79 billion the previous year.

Cosco said the retail business segment from Puregold and S&R contributed 85.8 percent of total revenues.

Puregold net sales grew 16 percent to P84.7 billion last year due to the strong consumer demand from its 233 Puregold stores and nine S&R Membership stores.

 “Cosco has a strong financial balance sheet with more than P15 billion in cash and a debt to equity ratio of only 52 percent,” the company said.