November 11, 2015

THE LOCAL licensee of the 7-Eleven convenience stores grew its net income by a tenth in the third quarter on higher sales, but its unprecedented expansion outside Luzon tempered profitability in the first nine months of the year.

Philippine Seven Corp.’s (PSC) bottom line increased to P159 million in the July to September period from P144 million in the same period last year, accompanied by a 25.8% year-on-year growth in system-wide sales to P6.25 billion from P4.97 billion, it disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

Net profit climbed by a tenth year-on-year to P515.5 million in the first nine months of the year from P468.3 million on the back of a 24.8% uptick in system-wide sales to P18.4 billion during the period from P14.8 billion.

Rate of earnings growth would have grown at a faster pace if not for the company’s capacity building expenditures to support its foray in Visayas and Mindanao, PSC said.

“This will impact profitability in the medium term, in the form of underutilized warehouses, but is expected to benefit the company by achieving dominant position in new markets,” the listed firm said.

PSC closed the third quarter with a total of 1,480 7-Eleven stores all over the country, up 26.6% from year-ago levels.

At end-September, it was operating 1,318 stores in Luzon, 149 in the Visayas and 13 in Mindanao.

Shares in PSC added P9.20 or 9.13% to close at P110 each on Tuesday. — Krista Angela M. Montealegre

source: http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Corporate&title=local-7-eleven-licensees-profit-higher-at-end-sept.&id=118428