Puregold income hits P6.75B in 2019

PUREGOLD Price Club Inc. saw a 16-percent growth in its consolidated core net income to P6.75 billion last year from P5.82 billion in 2018.

In a disclosure on Wednesday, the listed retail store operator said its stores recorded a 4.6- percent same- store sales growth ( SSSG) in 2019 and S& R registered an SSSG of 8.3 percent.

These increases were driven by higher consumer spending, minimum wage inflation in 2018 and easing consumer price growth in 2019.

Puregold’s consolidated net sales climbed by 9.5 percent to P154.49 billion last year, with 77 percent of revenues from its store network and 23 percent from its S& R Membership warehouse clubs and S& R New York Style Pizza stores.

Operating income rose to P11.38 billion, up 11.3 percent from P10.23 billion in 2018.

Puregold set its 2020 capital expenditure at P3.4 billion, with a large portion to be spent on the establishment of new Puregold and S& R stores.

“Puregold will… continue its expansion program by opening 25 new Puregold stores, and has opened [ two] S& R membership shopping warehouses in 2020. This will provide our shoppers better convenience especially now that travel is limited due to quarantine,” the company said in the disclosure.

It also plans “to offer online grocery shopping to 100 Puregold stores from the current 40 stores in our Puregold Mobile App by [ the] end of 2020,” it added.

The move is in anticipation of the change in consumer shopping behavior due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The global health crisis prompted lockdowns around the world, forcing most people to stay home to avoid infection and shop for products online.

Puregold currently has 436 stores. Of this number, 380 are Puregold stores, 18 are S& R branches and 38 are S& R New York Style QSR branches.

Puregold shares dropped by 0.32 percent or 15 centavos to close at P46.35 each on Wednesday.