Grocery, liquor units boost Q1 profit of Cosco Capital

Cosco Capital Inc., the listed retail holding firm of businessman Lucio L. Co, said its income in the first three months of the year rose 11 percent to P2.7 billion from last year’s P2.44 billion.

Consolidated revenues grew at a slower pace, at less than 3 percent to P40.68 billion in the first quarter from last year’s P39.57 billion.

The company said it continued to benefit from a combination of the gross margin enhancements thru stronger suppliers supports, sustained strategic cost and expense management as well as the income tax savings from the implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.

Grocery retailing businesses, Puregold Price Club Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, contributed 68 percent of total core net income, followed by the liquor distribution unit with 17 percent, commercial real estate segment with 14 percent while the group’s specialty retailing segment under Office Warehouse Inc. accounted for 1 percent.

The grocery retail segment saw an increase in its consolidated revenues by less than 2 percent to P39.21 billion from the previous year’s P38.53 billion mainly driven by the increase in customer traffic in its Puregold supermarkets with the gradual reopening up of the economy and continued easing of community restrictions.

The grocery retail segment also managed a 6-percent growth in net income to P2.15 billion from last year’s P2.02 billion resulting from the improvement in gross profit margins as well as strategic cost reduction measures.

The Keepers Holdings Inc., the largest imported liquor distribution in the Philippines, reported a 34 percent growth in its consolidated net income to P333.5 million for the first quarter from last year’s P247.6 million on strong sales performance augmented by management’s strategic cost control of its distribution, marketing and promotion expenses.

Consolidated revenue grew 23 percent to P2.17 billion, on the back of a 17- percent growth in volume of cases sold totaling more than 831,000.

“This was driven principally by the continued robust performance of Alfonso, the leading imported brandy in the market, which has already surpassed its pre-pandemic levels despite some challenges brought by the continuing impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns experienced during the year,” the company said.