Wilcon Depot Inc., a leading home improvement and finishing construction supplies retailer, said Thursday second-quarter net income fell 15 percent to P856 million from P1 billion in the same period last year on lower foot traffic and transaction count.
Wilcon said in a disclosure to the stock exchange second-quarter net sales inched up by 4 percent to P8.62 billion, thanks to the contribution of newly-opened stores.
Wilcon president and chief executive Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said the slower growth in the second quarter was mainly due to the decline in foot traffic in old stores and the slowdown in private construction in April.
Belo-Cincochan said the company was coming from a high base, as there was pent-up demand in the same period last year.
“Historically, months with longer holiday stretches were periods with relatively lower sales since construction projects are usually also paused to save on labor cost or homeowners go on holiday themselves. While our sales still grew modestly in the second quarter, this was not enough to cover the increases in our fixed costs, which comprises the bulk of our opex.” she said.