Bad weather pulls down Wilcon earnings

MANILA, Philippines — A slowdown in sales dragged down earnings of home improvement and construction supplies retailer Wilcon Depot Inc. in the nine months ending September.

Wilcon reported a 22.3-percent drop in net income to P2.1 billion during the nine-month period as sales declined by one percent year-on-year to P25.7 billion.

Wilcon president and CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said that the company saw persisting softness of the demand for major home improvement and finishing construction supply through the third quarter.

She said that the incessant rains and bad weather also did not help, which historically tends to postpone or delay construction projects.

A total of three new depots – one in Visayas, one in Northern Luzon and one in Southern Luzon – were opened by the company during the third quarter, bringing the total number of branches to 98 by the end of the period.

On a per format basis, Wilcon’s sales from the depot-format stores was 1.5-percent lower year-on-year to P24.65 billion, comprising 96 percent of total net sales.

Sales from the company’s new depots contributed an additional 4.3 percent to the company’s nine-month total sales.

The smaller format, Do-It-Wilcon, which includes the original Home Essentials stores, generated net sales of P738 million, up by 34.3 percent year-on-year.

For the group’s store expansion, Belo-Cincochan said Wilcon is nearing completion of its 100-store target.

She said the company currently has 98 stores, with its 100th branch expected before the end of the year.

“While expansion-related expenses have been the major drag on net income, we still believe that we have to be well-positioned to capture more market share as customer preference even for planned purchases has been trending toward convenience and accessibility especially since the pandemic,” Belo-Cincochan said.