Wilcon to open more stores outside Metro Manila
WILCON DEPOT, Inc. is going beyond Metro Manila as it looks to breach the P1-billion mark for its bottom line for 2017.
The listed home and construction supplies retailer targets to open three new stores in Mindanao, two in Visayas, and one each in Northern and Southern Luzon, with an investments of around P150 million to P180 million for each store spanning 8,000 to 10,000 square meters.
Wilcon has so far opened one new store — in Butuan — out of the eight new stores it is planning to open this year. This adds to its portfolio of 37 stores at end 2016.
“That’s just going to keep adding on. We haven’t opened yet in the first five months, except for Butuan. So considering that it’s a quite positive trend… we project to be growing more due to the new store expansions,” Wilcon President and Chief Executive Officer Lorraine Belo-Cincochan told reporters after the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Monday in Mandaluyong City.
The company’s founder, William T. Belo, said four stores are currently under construction. Construction of another store in Tacloban City will begin within the month, while that of one in Zamboanga City is due to start in July. “Hopefully this will be in time (for opening) in December,” Mr. Belo said.
Wilcon will also build five new stores in 2018 as the company looks to expand its nationwide footprint to 65 stores by 2021.
Asked if they will be venturing into e-commerce, Ms. Belo-Cincochan said that while they plan to bring their products online, the kind of customers Wilcon attracts still prefer visiting the physical store.
“We believe that when you want to build or invest in your home, you want to go to the store and really look at the product. When we look at comparable in the US or in the region, e-commerce is not that big a chunk of their market yet,” she said.
For his part, Wilcon Chief Financial Officer Mark Andrew Y. Belo said the company “seems to be on track” to hit a net income of P1.2 billion this year, the earnings guidance the company disclosed in its prospectus for its initial public offering last March.
In 2016, the firm delivered a net income of P886 million. In the first quarter of 2017, it booked earnings of P391 million on the back of a 14.1% sales growth to P3.67 billion during the period.
Wilcon shares closed at P7 each on Monday, up 2.64% or 18 centavos from the previous session.