NETWORK EXPANSION This store in Pila, Laguna opened in 2021. Wilcon Depot is in the middle of the latest round of branch additions.
MANILA Philippines — Sluggish demand in the home improvement sector pulled down the 2024 earnings of Wilcon Depot Inc.
This happened as consumers are opting to buy cheaper products.
The Belo family-led firm disclosed to the stock exchange on Friday that its bottom line ebbed by 27.4 percent to P2.53 billion.
Net sales also subsided by 1.2 percent to P34.17 billion.
Depot stores contributed P32.83 billion to the group’s total sales. Meanwhile the smaller Do It Wilcon (DIW) branches added P996 million.
Project sales accounted for P347 million.
Store openings and lease-related costs resulted in a 9.2-percent rise in operating expenses, which reached P10.46 billion.
Wilcon ended the year with 100 stores, comprising 89 depots and 11 DIW branches.
‘Market remained soft’
“The year 2024 continued to be a challenging year for home improvement as the market remained soft,” Wilcon president and CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said in a statement.
“While we have seen improvements in customer and transaction counts in the fourth quarter, ticket and basket sizes shrank as customers continue to down trade,” Cincochan said.
This year, Wilcon plans to open eight new stores, construction for half of which began in 2024.
READ: Wilcon readies P2.2-B capex for expansion
She said most of the new stores—a mix of small and medium formats—will be opened in Luzon. However, one will rise in Cebu within the second quarter.
Cincochan noted the high cost of putting up new stores. She said they wanted to be “in the best position to serve our customers when demand bounces back.”
In the fourth quarter of last year alone, Wilcon’s net income fell by 45.8 percent to P411 million. This was due to lower sales.
Net sales during those three months ended at P8.5 billion, down 2 percent.