Wilcon earnings weaken to P2.53B
Sluggish demand in the home improvement sector pulled down the 2024 earnings of Wilcon Depot Inc., with consumers opting to buy cheaper products.
The Belo family-led firm disclosed to the stock exchange on Friday that its bottom line ebbed by 27.4 percent to P2.53 billion.
Net sales also subsided by 1.2 percent to P34.17 billion.
Depot stores contributed P32.83 billion to the group’s total sales, while the smaller Do It Wilcon (DIW) branches added P996 million. Project sales accounted for P347 million.
Store openings and lease-related costs resulted in a 9.2-percent rise in operating expenses, which reached P10.46 billion.
Wilcon ended the year with 100 stores, comprising 89 depots and 11 DIW branches.
“The year 2024 continued to be a challenging year for home improvement as the market remained soft,” Wilcon president and CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said in a statement.
“While we have seen improvements in customer and transaction counts in the fourth quarter, ticket and basket sizes shrank as customers continue to down trade,” Cincochan said.
This year, Wilcon plans to open eight new stores, construction for half of which began in 2024.
According to the CEO, most of the new stores—a mix of small and medium formats—will be opened in Luzon, although one will rise in Cebu within the second quarter.
Recognizing the high cost of putting up new stores, Cincochan said they wanted to be “in the best position to serve our customers when demand bounces back.”
