WILCON Depot, Inc. recorded a 33.1% decline in its third-quarter net income to P608 million from P907.98 million a year ago.
July to September net sales dropped by 3.3% to P8.5 billion from P8.79 billion last year, the listed home improvement and finishing construction supplies retailer said in a statement to the stock exchange on Monday.
For the first nine months, Wilcon saw a 22.3% decrease in net income to P2.12 billion from P2.73 billion last year.
Net sales shrank by 1% to P25.68 billion from P25.94 billion in 2023.
Sales from depot stores fell by 1.5% to P24.65 billion, while sales from the Do-It-Wilcon smaller format branches rose by 34.3% to P738 million.
Major institutional accounts sales and project sales dropped by 20.3% to P294 million.
Operating expenses, including lease-related interest expense, rose by 8.7% to P7.64 billion due to expansion-related expenses such as trucking, depreciation and amortization, manpower, rent, and utilities.
Wilcon President and Chief Executive Officer Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said the weaker performance was caused by the persistent softness of demand for major home improvement and finishing construction supplies as well as delayed construction projects due to bad weather.
She added that expansion-related expenses have hampered the company’s net income.
“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,” she said.
Ms. Belo-Cincochan said the company is expecting to open its 100th branch before yearend.
Wilcon currently has 98 stores. Three depots opened in the third quarter, one in Visayas, one in Northern Luzon, and one in Southern Luzon.
“As always, we remain customer-focused and constantly improving our service delivery, taking advantage of technology to consistently give excellent value to our customers throughout the country,” Ms. Belo-Cincochan said.
On Monday, Wilcon stocks rose by 1.11% or 18 centavos to P16.4 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
