Home improvement and construction supplies retailer Wilcon Depot Inc. reported Tuesday a 77.5-percent increase in third-quarter net income on the back of a double-digit growth in revenues.
Wilcon said in a disclosure to the stock exchange third-quarter net income reached P1.1 billion, up from P482 million recorded in the same period last year as the higher sales and improved gross profit margin offset the increase in operating expenses.
Third-quarter net sales jumped 32.6 percent year-on-year to P8.78 billion, driven by the recovery of Metro Manila stores which were hit by mobility restrictions last year.
“Wilcon once again delivers a banner quarter going from strength to strength, coming off a stellar second quarter. This is the re-opening scenario that we hoped to happen last year but was stymied by the Delta variant surge,” said Wilcon president and chief executive Lorraine Belo-Cincochan.
Belo-Cincochan said despite the higher inflation, more private construction projects resumed this year, particularly those that were delayed because of mobility restrictions and lack of manpower.
“With the resilience shown by our mature stores, we will focus on further enhancing their performance for the rest of the year and especially for the succeeding years. We also still have one new store to be opened this fourth quarter and we expect to have opened eight stores by the end of this year,” she said.
The strong third-quarter performance pushed Wilcon’s nine-month net income to P2.96 billion, up 58.3 percent from the same period in 2021.
Nine-month net sales rose 23.3 percent to P24.7 billion from the same period last year as the group added six depots and one home essentials store this year.
Gross profit margin expanded to 38.9 percent from 37.1 percent on increased contribution of the higher margin exclusive and in-house products to 51 percent from 49 percent.
Operating expenses including lease-related interest costs went up by 15.7 percent to P5.98 billion on higher volume of business from expansion and inflation.