Cosco net income soars to record

Cosco Capital Inc., the retail holding firm of Lucio Co, reported a 20 percent jump in attributable net income to a record R4.01 billion last year from the R3.33 billion earned in 2013.

“I believe that 2015 will be another record year of profits for Cosco as all our operating business units have shown doubledigit profit growth in 2014 and we are excited for more expansions and acquisitions across all businesses to cater to the growing demands of consumers,” said president Leonardo Dayao.

Cosco’s consolidated revenues rose by a faster 27 percent to R98.75 billion in 2014 from the R77.79 billion registered in 2013.

In 2014, the Retail business segment from Puregold and S&R contributed 85.8 percent of the total revenues followed by Specialty Retail from Liquigaz and Office Warehouse with 8.8 percent, Liquor Distribution amounted to 3.8 percent and Real Estate Leasing 1.6 percent.

Puregold net sales increased by 16 percent to R84.70 billion for the year 2014 due to the strong consumer demand from its 233 Puregold stores and 9 S&R Membership stores. In 2014, Puregold Group has a total of 248 stores with a net selling area of about 405,000 sqm.

Cosco’s consolidated net income in 2014 amounted to R6.24 billion up 16 percent compared to the R5.36 billion in 2013.

In 2014, the Retail business unit contributed 73 percent of the profits followed by Real Estate Leasing with 15 percent, Liquor Distribution 10 percent, and Specialty Retail with 2 percent.