Wilcon’s profit rises 50% to P3.85b on private construction rebound

By Jenniffer B. Austria

WILCON Depot Inc. said Friday net income grew 50.2 percent in 2022 to P3.85 billion from P1.287 billion in 2021, lifted by resumption of private construction activities following the easing of mobility restrictions.

Wilcon said in a stock exchange filing net sales went up 22 percent in 2022 to P33.57 billion from a year earlier. The robust sales helped offset the increase in operating expenses.

“Our net sales grew 22 percent yearon-year, mainly driven by the turnaround of our older stores with our comparable sales growth hitting 14.2 percent for 2022. There was marked increase in private construction activi- ties toward the end of the first quarter up to the end of the year despite strong inflationary pressures,” said Wilcon president and chief executive Lorraine Belo-Cincochan.

Same-store-sales growth reached 14.2 percent, with Metro Manila branches contributing the most to the increase.

Operating expenses also increased 17 percent year-on-year on higher volume of business and continuing store network expansion. Top contributing accounts included depreciation and amortization, utilities, manpower and trucking.

Wilcon opened 10 stores in 2022, including nine depots and one small store under the Home Essentials brand. All these stores are located in Luzon. Wil- con was operating 83 branches across the country as of end-2022.

Net income in the fourth quarter surged 28.3 percent to P888 million from the same quarter in 2021, while fourth-quarter net sales increased 18.5 percent to P8.85 billion.

“Our results also reflected our resilience and adaptability in coping with the myriad challenges of operating in a pandemic-disrupted environment. We seized the country’s overall economic recovery with our timely investments in inventory, our people and in process improvements. This enabled us to continuously serve the requirements of our customers and provide them with our usual excellent customer experience,” said Belo-Cincochan.

PHILIPPINE Airlines said Friday it signed a strategic partnership with Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s leading travel platform, to strengthen tourism growth in the Philippines and in the region. PAL and Traveloka executives signed a memorandum of understanding in Manila on Feb. 28, 2023.

“We are pleased to forge this new partnership with Traveloka, which will help us fortify our connections with the global market. Philippine Airlines has always made it a top concern to build, sustain and develop the direct air links to countries in the region and beyond, which means reaching out to travelers living all over the world,” said PAL president and chief operating officer Captain Stanley Ng.

“Key destinations such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan also eased their travel restrictions during the quarter, enabling the airline to accelerate recovery of its international network. Hong Kong, one of CEB’s largest markets, also lifted its mandatory quarantine requirements in December,” Cebu Pacific said.

“Our intent is for the partnership to unlock new travel options for our customers to fly with Philippine Airlines to various wonderful destinations all around the Philippines, and to diverse international destinations as well,” he said.

Based on the data from the Department of Tourism, around 83,000 tourists visited the Philippines from the Southeast Asian region during the early part of the pandemic in 2020, a dramatic drop from the over 526,000 in 2019 because of global border restrictions.

Darwin G. Amojelar