Wilcon posts

Wilcon Depot, Inc. disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange net earnings of R887 million, in the nine months of operations from April to December, 2016.

“We are pleased to announce that we finished the year strong, both in our top and bottom lines. Our nine-month net sales reached R12.3 billion, 96.7 percent of which was generated by our depot format stores,” said Wilcon Chief Financial Officer Mark Andrew Belo.

Gross profit amounted to R3.3 billion for a gross margin of 26.8 percent while operating profit (or earnings before interest and tax) reached R1.04 billion for an operating margin of 8.5 percent.

The firm began operations on April 1, 2016 when the retail business and assets were completely transferred from parent company Wilcon Corporation (formerly Wilcon Builder’s Depot, Inc.).

Prior to the transfer of the retail operations, Wilcon Corporation, registered net sales of R3.7 billion and net income of R269 million based on its audited statements for the three-month period ended March 31, 2016.

Belo said “sales from our existing stores were augmented by the opening of two new stores in 2016, one in Molino, Cavite in April and another in Sta. Rosa, Laguna in September. These areas have seen remarkable growth in real estate development particularly in the horizontal housing segment, Wilcon’s natural market.”

“These stores along with the existing ones in the same region are expected to contribute more to the Company’s revenues in many years to come given the demographics of their locations,” he noted.

Belo said that, “during the year, we