Cosco core profit rises; Puregold makes ₱4.5 B

Cosco Capital, Inc., the listed retail holding firm of Lucio L. Co, reported a 13.1 percent hike in consolidated core net income to ₱6.51 billion in the first nine months of 2019 from ₱5.76 billion in same period last year.

In a disclosure, the firm said earnings were driven by the sustained organic expansion of its business segments on the back of the continued economic growth and the higher consumer spending as a result of the tax reform law.

Core attributable net income to equity holders grew by 14 percent to ₱4.25 billion from ₱3.73 billion.

With the one-time gain from the sale of Liquigaz, consolidated net income surged 137 percent to ₱14.52 billion in the first nine months of 2019 from ₱6.12 billion same period last year.

On a like for like basis, all the business segments achieved a consolidated growth in revenue of 11.2 percent while consolidated net income grew by 20.1 percent in the first nine months of 2019 compared to its 2018 performance.

The group’s grocery retailing businesses, Puregold Price Club, Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, contributed 54 percent of total profits, followed by the Commercial Real Estate segment with 22 percent and the Liquor Distribution with 17 percent.

The group’s Specialty Retailing segment, Office Warehouse, Inc., accounted for 2 percent of net profit.

The grocery retail segment grew its consolidated revenues by 10.3 percent to ₱109.8 billion, while consolidated net income increased by 2.9 percent to ₱4.55 billion.

However, excluding the one-time gain from the sale of its Lawson equity investment in 2018, core net income grew by 12.1 percent in the first nine months of 2019.

The Liquor Distribution business posted a 28.8 percent growth in revenues to ₱7.36 billion, on the back of a 42 percent increase in volume of cases sold in the first nine months of 2019.